Gundam Seed: Divided Loyalties
by Asmus
Summary: The person you are fighting with is not always your friend. The person you are fighting against is not always your enemy. Everyone has his price and everyone has his reasons to fight. No matter what or who they are, Naturals, Coordinators or Ravens. -Discontinued-
1. Introduction

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am Asmus, and I'd like to ask you a question.

_What is loyalty? _

Does loyalty means following a certain idea or a belief? Or does it mean facing problems together with your friends?

Can it be changed? Replaced? Can it be nothing more than a mask behind which to hide the true nature of a person?

Can loyalty be purchased?

Okay, these were several questions, not one. But the point remains. Even if there is one definition to loyalty, there are a lot of things that influence it. One of which is money. Have you ever wondered what would happen if people, who are loyal only to the highest bidder, entered the Bloody Valentine War? People like the mercenaries known as Ravens.

If you decide to give this story a chance, I have to warn you, this is the first step of a very long road. This is the first of four stories. The first story of the series called The Tainted Renaissance.

Now, as some of you have probably realized, Ravens are mercenaries in the Armored Core universe. Therefore it means that this story is a crossover. Right? ... Not exactly. The reason why this story isn't in the crossover section is that it's not a true crossover. Usually a crossover requires readers to have knowledge about all of the involved universes. Well, this is not the case. I am writing this story while assuming that readers have absolutely no knowledge about the Armored Core universe. Therefore you can read this story even if you know nothing about Armored Cores. The only thing you should need to know is the general appearance of an Armored Core. A problem which can be easily solved by looking up some images on the internet.

Now, the story does contain a fair amount of all things you would expect from a war story. Violence, swearing and probably mention of sex. If you're offended by any of this then you'll probably won't enjoy the story very much.

Furthermore, all products/creations used in this story belong to their respective owners. I'm not making any money out of this and I'm writing purely for fun.

And one final thing. I tried my best to explain everything as best I can, but I'm not perfect. If there's something you don't understand, feel free to ask me. If there's something you like or don't like, if you have any suggestions, wishes or ideas, let me know. There's always room for ideas. And, considering that there will be two sequels following this story, I'm guessing I have lots of room for any ideas.

And now, on with the show!


	2. Prolouge

The night of October 12th Cosmic Era 70 was just like any other night on the Moon, of course if there was such thing as night in space. Silent, lifeless and cold, the Earth's natural satellite continued it's path around the globe as it had done for eons. Dotted by hundreds of craters, left from the encounters with various meteors, the small, grey orb was almost lifeless and void of life. The lack of atmosphere made this place unsuitable for human life.

However, as Mankind evolved and ultimately left Earth, they proved, that life was possible even on places like Moon. As time passed, cities and bases were constructed, improved and expanded. Eventually, Earth's satellite became home for hundreds of people. And when the political situation demanded it, the Moon also became a battlefield.

Eight months had passed since the beginning of the war and it had no intention of stopping in near future. The sate of war was the main reason for the large amount of military forces, stationed in the Moon's bases. This giant ball of rock also served as a staging point for almost every attack on PLANTs, carried out by Earth Alliance.

The Ptolemaus Lunar base was the main Alliance's base on the Moon. Consisting of dozens of facilities for the forces stationed here, this base was the heart of Earth's military in space. Also, this place was one of the safest areas in space, along with Artemis fortress. Defended by the 8th fleet, the soldiers of Ptolemaus base could rest peacefully for the time being. However, this peaceful moment was about to be interrupted.

"Okay, so this guy walks into the bar and asks the bartender, "I'm a bouncer and I need a job."

The bartender scrutinizes him and replies, "Well, you seem okay, but I don't know how good you are."

"Watch this, I'll show you." He grabs the nearest man and throws him outside. "Well? Am I hired?"

The bartender shrugs his shoulders. "Wait until the boss gets back inside, and then we'll see." The radar operator finished his joke and his friend let out a roar of laughter. The both men continued sharing various jokes until their commander arrived.

"Ensign Cipriani, must I remind you, that this is no time for jokes?" Brian Carey, captain of the Nelson class battleship Ajax, said in a tired voice, while a faint smile crossed his lips. Ensign Vito Cipriani was the biggest joker on the entire ship. If captain Carey allowed, he would be entertaining the whole bridge even in the heat of battle.

The radar operator started and returned to his tasks. "Sorry sir, just trying to lighten the atmosphere."

"I know, but even if this is just a patrol, there is no reason for slacking off." Brian gave him a stern look. "If you want to entertain us, please do so, but before inform me about it, so that I can find someone to entrust with my ship's radar. Just let me know if you are tired of your duties."

Ensign Cipriani sat upright and fixed his gaze on the display in front of him. While doing so, he replied in a serious and loud voice. "No sir, there is no need for that. I will remain dedicated to this piece of valuable equipment my nation has entrusted me with. Even in the face of death I will take care ..." Vito's declamation was interrupted when the radar picked up a massive interference wave which was shortly followed by a huge object that appeared on the edge of the radar. "Sir, I have something on the radar. Distance 900. Ten o'clock."

"What is it!"

"Analyzing data ... well it's not an enemy contact. Maybe a meteor or something." Cipriani kept working with the controls, to get better readings. The object was certainly a meteor, it probably had a very high concentration of metal as it created a strong magnetic field. "I think it's a meteor. One with a strong magnetic field." He informed his commanding officer about his thoughts. "That iron ball will pass the moon in a couple of moments and will head for Earth, where it will burn in the atmosphere."

"So, there is nothing to worry about." Captain Carey calmed down sighed. This war was really working on everyone's nerves, mostly his. Despite what the propaganda was telling them, Brian doubted that this war would end just like that. Earth Alliance had to do some serious fighting in order to win this. Maybe the reason for his pessimism was that he knew the real results of every battle against the Coordinators, not the glorified and filtered version the civilians received. They had reached the point where Alliance had to rely on sheer numbers to win a battle.

_Or maybe I have spent too much time without rest and even a single meteor looks like an enemy to me._ The captain rubbed his eyes and glanced at his watch. He shift would be over in 20 minutes. _Just a few more minutes and I'm off to bed, for a well deserved sleep. _His mind was already preparing for the rest, so he almost missed Ensign Cipriani's statement.

"A small part has broken off from the main meteor, probably because of Moon's gravity ... And ... touchdown! The piece crashed into the surface about 340 kilometers away from us." Vito informed everyone. "I have the coordinates, in case someone wants to bring their kids a real piece of meteor instead of that charcoal crap they used to pull." He couldn't resist another joke.

"Send out a Mobile Armor to check it out." The captain suddenly ordered. Not paying any attention to Vito's surprised look, he waited until one of the Moebius took off, heading toward the designated area. "I know it might be a meteor, but I don't want to take any chances. We're in the middle of war and your meteor could later turn out to be something nasty from ZAFT." He said, forcing the radar operator to swallow his objections.

The bridge became silent, everyone was waiting for the pilot to inform them about the contact's origin. Since this was the only interesting thing, almost everyone was throwing inquiring glances at the communications operator who repelled them by shrugging his shoulders. _There's no need for them to do that, there's nothing there. Nothing except for a huge piece of rock. _Cipriani fought the urge to say it out loud. Then, with a loud beep, the radar reminded him about Vito's duties. Besides the Alliance's fighter, there was another dot on the radar. "Sir, I got something at the impact area. It just showed up on the radar and ... Shit! We lost the fighter."

"Try to contact the pilot, find out what is going on! Raise the alarm, prepare for battle, possible enemy contact detected. Set course at the last known position of our Mobile Armor and notify the admiral." The captain kept barking orders, while everyone relayed them to the rest of the ship. The ship's engines roared to life as the huge vessel began it's path toward the place they lost the fighter. All efforts to re-establish contact with the lost unit were fruitless. Other Moebius Mobile Armors were launched and were ordered to take defensive positions around the Ajax. Few crewmembers entered the bridge and hurried to their stations, rubbing the last traces of slumber from their eyes. "Identify the target. I want to know what we're dealing with." Brian said when they were a lot closer.

Furiously typing on the keyboard, Vito slowly shook his head. "I can't. It's nothing in the database, but judging by the heat emission, it's clearly a Mobile Suit." The Captain uttered a silent curse.

"Damn ZAFT must have sent a prototype to do a field-test ... Hmm, but where are the escorts then?" He kept tapping on the armrest. No one would sent out their prototype units without any support. However, concerning the difficulties they had with the GINNs a prototype would make thing even uglier. "Order our fighters to attack and begin targeting with our missiles."

"Sir, we have incoming message from admiral Halberton, he says that the reinforcements are en route. ETA 10 minutes." Brian nodded in reply and watched as nine Mobile Armors left their positions and blitzed toward their target. The group of fighters was followed by a swarm of long range missiles corkscrewing from the launchers.

"Sir, we are in visual range of the target, uploading image." One of the crewmembers stated and everyone took a quck glance at the display. The usually peaceful surface was obscured by a huge cloud of dust, probably created by the impact with which the mobile Suit landed. Beneath the dust, there was a new also saw the Mobile Armor squadron moving toward the center of the cloud. At the same time the missiles entered the cloud and soon exploded in series of bright flashes.

"Shit! Captain, I'm getting interference on my systems, something is messing with them." The communications operator said, while trying to regain control over the equipment. However, he was unsuccessful. Whatever was doing it, hacked into the system and allowed everyone to hear what it had to say.

"Targets verified! Commencing hostilities!" The mechanical sounding voice was cold as space itself and was soon followed by series of bright blue energy beams emerging from the dust. Two Mobile Armors exploded as their pilots were caught off guard. Another two followed a second later. Before anyone realized what was going on, four Moebius fighters were claimed by the enemy fire. The captain of the battleship Ajax had to admit, that ZAFT pilot was good. He rarely missed a shot, even when firing blindly and relying on the machine's sensors to see trough the dust cover. The Moebius fighters fired back, but their attempt was nothing compared to the accurate strikes of their enemy.

After another unsuccessful missile salvo, which was blown away with the energy beams, the captain tried another approach. "Order all surviving units to fall back. We will stay outside that bastard's weapon range and wait until he leaves that dust cloud." The remaining three fighter pilots did as they were told and broke off from their futile attack. Brian also used this moment to check how far were the reinforcements.

"Six minutes, captain!"

The short moment of peace was broken, when the enemy unit left it's position. At first no one was able to make out what exactly they saw, because the supposed ZAFT's Mobile Suit moved with incredible speed, making huge leaps across the surface. The machine moved in a chaotic pattern which helped it to evade the incoming attacks. Jumping over and around the linear gun rounds and missiles, it surprised everyone with it's remarkable agility. Firing two more energy beams in the middle of a long jump, it downed two more Mobile Armors, leaving only one to protect the ship. But the machine wasn't done yet. Touching the ground for barely a second, the prototype made another jump. This time activating the boosters, which were built into the machine's back and legs.

The boost-assisted jump sent it closer and closer to the Ajax. "Pull back! It's coming straight at us!" Brian cried, but it was too late. With a resounding _clang_ their opponent landed on the ship's hull, right besides the weapon turret, which was destroyed a moment later. The sole surviving Moebius unit, armed only with a machine gun fired the only weapon it had, trying to defend the battleship. However, the enemy paid no attention to the attack and there was a good reason why. The attack barely scratched the machine's hull. Ignoring the attack, the enemy turned round, finally letting everyone on the bridge to get a good look at it.

If it was a Mobile Suit, then ZAFT had come up with something brand new. Unlike their bulky looking GINNs, this machine was slim, more streamlined and looked like it was built for speed. The bodily proportions were like no one had seen before. The large legs looked even more massive, when the machine's chest came into view. It was a bit smaller, than those seen on GINN series Mobile Suits, but it was also longer, stretched to front and back, giving the machine an Y shaped profile. The large shoulders also made the chest appear smaller. Two rectangular shaped cannons could be seen, one behind each shoulder. The arms were short, too short. They ended just below the elbow joints, each with a triangular shaped object at the end. Finally the head also was different, it reminded everyone of some kind of a bug's head, with large glowing eyes on each side of the head.

The thick dust layer didn't allow them to see the color pattern, but a thing like that wasn't of any importance right now. What was important, was the fact that this unknown machine was damaged, but the damage wasn't inflicted by Earth's forces. To captain Carey it seemed that the dents were made by a strong impact. Possibly during the landing. If crashing into the Moon's surface could be called landing. Now that their foe was closer, Brian noticed another thing. The machine was trembling. Barely noticeable shivers were running across the machine's hull, as if it was under an adrenaline rush.

But the time of examination was over, because the two energy cannons unfolded over the shoulders and a bright light was the last thing captain and his subordinates saw. Two beams of superheated ionized matter entered the bridge, instantly turning the crew into ash. The following explosion breached the bulkheads and went deeper into the ship, destroying everything in it's path. Two more beams further fueled the wave of destruction. Then the enemy made it's first mistake. All this time the strange Mobile Suit kept ignoring the last Moebius unit, expecting no danger from it, but whoever was piloting the prototype seriously underestimated the Mobile Armor's pilot. After seeing his ship turned into a burnt wreck and the entire crew killed, the pilot let out a mad cry did something unexpected. Charging in with all the speed Moebius's engine could muster, the pink colored craft rammed the enemy unit, smashing it into the destroyed ship's hull. _Take this, you fucking atrocity! _The pilot's last action embodied the revenge for the crew of Ajax.

xxxxx

"Battleship Ajax, come in! ... Battleship Menelaus calling Ajax, please respond! ... Nothing admiral," The radio operator put down the radio. "I can't reach anyone."

The reinforcements arrived too late. Battleship Ajax was destroyed along with every soul aboard. The broken remains littered the Moon's surface and some parts were still burning, silently informing the newly arrived forces of the vessel's fate. The main hull was fairly intact, but the bridge was gone, just like the weapon turret in front of it. The ship's interior was glowing yellow from the intense heat, leaving no chance for anyone to be still alive. Hundreds of small pieces of hull littered the area around the wreck, while charred remains of Mobile Armors could be seen either floating in space, not yet claimed by the gravity, or already scattered in the nearby area.

Admiral Halberton surveyed the battlefield in front of him. "Damn, we're too late ... But where is the enemy?" The enemy unit the Ajax informed them about was nowhere to be seen. "Send out the patrols, I want that ZAFT prototype found ASAP! And begin salvage operations, maybe we can fine something important in that wreckage, something that might help us to deal with this threat." Halberton ordered and moved towards the door. "I'll be in my room, if something comes up, let me know."

The salvage did turn up something that might help in identifying the enemy, or rather it was the enemy itself they found. The Mobile Suit was hurled inside the Ajax's hull, where it remained until the salvage crews removed it and transported it to the Menelaus. The unknown machine didn't show any signs of activity, probably that's why everyone suspected that the pilot was dead. Killed in battle or died from the intense heat. Either way, the Alliance's forces took the scorched and damaged machine to the ship's hangar and began to examine it. But what little they were able to find out was almost unbelievable.

Admiral Halberton thought the same thing, when he went over the report from ship's engineers a few hours later, back in the Ptolemaus base. _If ZAFT starts to produce things like these, the war will soon be over. _He kept reading the puzzling report, incredulously staring at the monitor. This machine was something new. The design, the structure, the armor, weapons and other still unknown things was more than just a new series of Mobile Suits. _It's as if they created an entirely new generation of these units. There is nothing, that even remotely reminds me of their Mobile Suits. Bloody ZAFT. _The blond man felt his fists tighten in anger._ They aren't satisfied with the fact that they are already wiping the floor with our Mobile Armors, now they have to start producing monsters like these. _Halberton rubbed his forehead and closed the program, he had seen enough. He leaned back in the chair. Earth Alliance was still yet to come up with something to put against the GINN. Although his proposed G-Project was finally approved, the first prototypes were nowhere near completion.

_But what if ...? _A flicker of hope entered his mind and he leaned closer to the monitor and once again opened the report. _If this is a prototype, then there's still some time. _His gaze flew over the report as more and more thoughts entered his mind. The initial reports stated, that the Mobile Suit was in good condition, despite being shot at and crashed into the Ajax's burning hull. It meant that there was a possibility to examine it more completely and make some adjustments to the G-project units. He checked the report one more time and decided to make a call. Halberton wasn't a scientist, there were people who understood more about engineering than he did and it was time to call one of them.

xxxxx

Far away from the Moon a man woke up. The middle aged man stared at the ceiling of his bedroom and tried to figure out why he woke up in the middle of the night. He slowly moved his arm to one side until it met the second occupant of the bed. _It's late and she is still sleeping, so it isn't because of Miranda. _He strained his ears, when he thought that he had heard a beep. After a few more seconds he was sure that he could hear distant periodic beeps, coming from downstairs. _No, it can't be. _But it was, exactly what he suspected. _Damned videophone. Shut up, no one's home!_ He wished that he could make that thing shut up with the power of his thoughts, but such things didn't happen. Silently grunting, Christopher got out of the bed, trying not to disturb his wife. He grabbed the bathrobe with a well practiced move and threw it on his shoulders. His latest work often forced him to wake up and answer the calls in the middle of the night. And despite how much he hated doing that, every call was more or less important. _I miss the times when it was possible to escape from everyone and enjoy a moment of peace and quiet. _He recalled the old times, when the technology wasn't so advanced. However, things like that were ancient history. Modern age allowed to reach everyone, wherever he was. With a heavy sigh, Christopher left the bedroom and closed the doors behind him. Trying not to make more noise than necessary, the middle aged scientist made his way down the stairs and entered the hallway.

The videophone, on the far end of the hallway next to the kitchen doors, was still beeping. It's glowing display shed a faint light on the neraby walls. "Don't hang up on me now, or I'll be forced to do something nasty." He warned the unknown caller and turned on the light. Slightly narrowing his eyes in the bright light, Christopher walked down the hallway and pushed one of the system's buttons. "Whoever is calling better be on the verge of death or something similar." Upon seeing who was calling his scowl became even deeper. "Even you, Lewis? Of all people!" The image was slightly distorted because of the large distance, but it was clearly his old friend.

"Sorry, for calling so late Christopher, but it's extremely important." The admiral at least was polite enough to apologize, most of the late night callers didn't do even that. Christopher wanted to give him a piece of his mind, but Lewis's tone and the fact that he called him Christopher, made him listen. "How is the G-project coming along?"

"You called me to ask me THAT? What's wrong with you!? I know we've been friends for a long time, but everything has a limit." Christopher couldn't restrain himself. "I know you're the one who suggested this idea and all, but you could have called me in the morning to ask about this." He paused for a while and continued. "If you must know, the development is going on as planned. We finished designing the new beam rifles, which will be used by Strike, Aegis, Duel and Blitz. The armor is going to be a serious problem though. In order to meet the required durability, the armor plates must be so thick, that the Mobile Suits will be almost useless on Earth, because of the huge weight. We are considering to try out the electric reactive armor technology, but it will take some time. And we still haven't dealt with the biggest problem, creating a Natural-usable Operating System. But you didn't call to ask me about this just because you became lonely, right Lewis?"

His friend gave a tired smile. "You're right Chris. The reason why I called you is to let you know, that we recently captured a ZAFT prototype Mobile Suit."

Christopher stroked his chin. "A prototype, you say? Isn't they satisfied with just their GINNs wiping the floor with your Mobile Armors?" He ignored Halberton's frown, enjoying the chance to take a dig at his friend. "Of course those bastards are bound to roll out something new sooner or later. But is it really that important?"

"You have no idea! It took out a Nelson class battleship and it's ten Moebius escort fighters all on it's own in less than five minutes. And it looks like ..." He held up a picture of the captured unit in front of the screen. "Trust me, I've never seen something like this before." Christopher's eyes almost fell out of their sockets when he saw the picture of the strange machine.

Even if the image wasn't perfect, he couldn't miss the unusual design and appearance. "ZAFT made this?" He breathed and unconsciously touched the display. "Incredible... Nelson and ten Moebius ... five minutes."

Halberton put down the picture and nodded agreement. "I know, but that's not the worst part. From what the technicians could deduce, the machine was already damaged before the battle, so I presume it's full potential is even higher. Oh, and the worse part is that when when opened the cockpit, it was empty."

"Empty? ... Impossible ... remote control?"

"I don't know. That's why we're sending it to you."

Christopher took a step away from the videophone and held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa you're sending that thing to Heliopolis? Do you realize how much work I already have?" Halberton gave a placating sigh.

"I know. Trust me, if there was someone else I could rely on, I would ask him to deal with this problem, but there isn't. I've heard rumors about Blue Cosmos gaining more and more supporters among Alliance's high command."

"What's wrong with that? While their goals are just a little more ... extreme, than ours they are on our side." Christopher played the Devil's advocate. He wasn't a supporter of Blue Cosmos, but he also disliked Coordinators. Their ability to do great things at younger age didn't sit well with the 41 year old man. He wasn't jealous, he just held a view, that they were doing things too rash, which would lead to drastic consequences. Experience was important after all.

Halberton frowned a little before answering. "I know that. It's just that I don't trust them. I got a feeling that is they get their hands on this it will turn into a nightmare. And since you aren't one of their supporters I think that I can trust you about this," He rised his eyebrows. "Well, can I ... Chris?"

"Fine," Christopher gave up. "I will take care of ZAFT's new prototype and try to find out what they are up to. Hmm ... maybe I can obtain something from that machine to improve our G weapons."

"Glad to hear it, Chris. The transport and the technical report will arrive tomorrow and if there is anything you need, just let me know."

"All I need is for people to stop calling me in the middle of the night. But some dreams will always remain just dreams." Christopher murmured and reached out to terminate the connection. "I'll let you know when I find out something about that thing. Bye." The display became dark when the call was over, but Christopher remained standing next to the videophone, thinking about the recent conversation. _Why would ZAFt develop a new Mobile Suit so soon after the beginning of war? We still haven't come up with something to counter their GINNs in space. _After a while his mind shifted in other direction. He began thinking about the new task. Already he could almost feel the sparks of excitement flow beneath his skin. Nothing made him feel better than a good challenge. "Well, since I'm already up and all this enthusiasm is almost making my hands shake it will be impossible to go back to bed." He said and entered the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee. There were things to take care of. Also, the image of the prototype kept surfacing in his mind, something that made him even more impatient to see the machine with his own eyes.


	3. A dark secret

"Daniel, at least try to stand on your own legs." Tolle Koenig, a Heliopolis's student, said, trying to prevent his friend from falling at the same time. It was no easy task, because Daniel was a bit taller than him and constantly changed the direction of his fall. "What were you doing last night? Professor Kato didn't give us that much to do." Daniel grumbled something obscure and did as he was told.

Daniel Stokes was one of Tolle's classmates and a good friend of his. He was 169 cm tall, with slightly better than average build, due to his habit of regular exercises, something he learned from his father. In fact, many people said that he looked a lot like his father. He had the same black hair and his father's dark blue eyes. However, his friends rarely mentioned this fact, because Daniel was tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. Daniel was wearing blue jeans and grey shoes, his upper clothing consisted of a yellow T-shirt and a red, unbuttoned shirt, whose long sleeves were tucked up to his elbows.

"Here you go. This should help." Miriallia Haw, Tolle's girlfriend and therefore - Daniel's friend, said and gave him a can of coffee, she got from the vending machine. Daniel slowly rised the can to his mouth and took a large gulp.

"Thanks Mir, I don't know what would I do without you guys." Daniel said, after the caffeine began to affect him. The girl smiled and picked up Tolle's backpack while he was getting a drink for himself. Daniel finished his drink with a couple of few more gulps and threw the can in the nearby bin. Now that he was almost awake for the next few hours, the boy was able to pronounce multi-syllable words. "I didn't get a chance to sleep last night. That's why I almost passed out."

"Then you should have skipped a couple of lessons to get some sleep." Miriallia suggested worriedly, "You already have good marks and if you missed something it wouldn't matter that much."

Tolle returned with his drink and collected his backpack. "So, what you were up to all night long?" They slowly began walking towards the park.

"I had to do something for my dad. I can't tell exactly what, because I don't remember much myself." Daniel explained and yawned. "It was something about some kind of a weird program, he is working with."

"Your father made you stay up all night? Even when he knew, that you have school in the morning? What did your mother say?"

Daniel glanced at a couple of nearby girls, then looked back at his friends. "Yes, he gets sort of crazy sometimes. And my mom didn't say anything, she was already sleeping." He paused for a moment. "Maybe that was why dad asked me to help him. Mom, who is his assistant, was sleeping and I happened to be at the wrong place in the wrong time. Anyway, what are you up to?" Tolle tried to throw the can into the bin, but missed by a couple of centimeters. Ignoring Daniel's grin he went to pick it up while Daniel and Miriallia waited for him.

"We are going to meet Kira, professor Kato was looking for him." She explained. "Tolle thinks, that Kira might be somewhere in the park." They continued their path down the road through the park. Other, nearby students were buzzing with activity and enjoying the sunny day. "Oh, I think it's him." Miriallia pointed at one of the gazebos, dotting the park. These small buildings offered everyone a spot of shade and they were highly prized by all students for that.

Tolle noticed the lone teenager, sitting in the nearest gazebo, with a pile of notebooks scattered in front of him. The boy himself was looking at a laptop, resting on his legs. A green robot bird perched on the laptop's monitor. "Kira," Tolle called, making the said boy rise his head. "There you are! Professor Kato was looking for you." He added when they reached him.

"Again?" Kira frowned.

"He said to drag you over once we find you..." Miriallia added in a bright tone. "What is it now? Does he need your help with something again?"

Kira placed his laptop on the table. "I haven't even finished the one he gave me yesterday." Tolle moved to take a look at the display, while Daniel sat down after nodding a greeting.

"Something on the news?"

"Yeah, It's about Kaohsiung."

Tolle watched the news broadcast with an anxious face. "I heard about this a week ago, it has probably fallen already."

"Isn't Kaohsiung close to us?" Miriallia wondered, while Kira turned off the computer. "I hope we will be alright." There was a moment of silence, as almost everyone thought about what might happen if it came to the worst, after all Orb was their homeland.

Daniel, who was resting his head on his arms, interrupted the silence. "I don't think so. Earth Alliance can't afford a new front with Orb. Their forces already have enough problems fighting ZAFT." Of the four, Daniel was the only one, who lived in Earth Alliance. He had to move to Heliopolis because of his parents' work. And he also was the only one that knew few things about Heliopolis's secret. "Also, Orb has always been neutral and I don't think that will change."

"I hope you are right, Daniel." Miriallia sighed.

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right." Daniel joked and got up from his seat. In his current state, it wasn't good to remain motionless for long. If he didn't find himself something to do, he would soon fall asleep. Meanwhile, Kira remembered that he had heard something similar before. A long time ago, a friend assured him, that everything would turn out peacefully and there would be no war. Unfortunately, that friend was wrong, the war did break out.

Apparently, the thought echoed on his face, because Tolle gave him a puzzled look. "Kira? ... What are you doing?" Kira started when he heard the question.

"Oh... Nothing."

Tolle shrugged and set off. "Let's go."

"Here's your notebook." Daniel helped Kira to gather his stuff. "You know, I keep wondering why professor Kato keeps asking you for help. I mean, it's not that I'm jealous, but I'm also good at computers why doesn't he bother me?"

Kira glanced at his friend and gave a short laugh. "Well, if you are so eager to work, I can suggest that he should give you something to do." Kira and Daniel were the top students of the class, when it came to computers. Although Kira was much better at it than the black haired teen. There were several reasons for that, the most important was that Daniel was a Natural and besides, computers weren't the only things in Daniel's life. Despite the fact, that they were used only by Coordinators, Daniel was very interested in Mobile Suits. Even if he had never been inside one, it didn't bother him to admire these machines.

"Forget what I said." Daniel instantly replied with a frown. "Work is something I don't need more than I already have." When Kira was done packing, they joined Tolle and Miriallia waiting for them. Slowly, sharing various jokes and carefree conversations, the four teenagers made their way toward the car stop. Lots of people in Heliopolis relied on these automated cars to transport them to their destinations.

xxxxx

However, unknown to everyone on Heliopolis, silent movement disturbed the darkest parts of the colony's structure. A team of ZAFT's commandos were moving with the skill and determination of elite soldiers, planting demolition charges in key positions. It was no wonder, since most of these soldiers were elites. The best and brightest cadets from the ZAFT's academy. Led by the commander Rau Le Creuset, they worked with frightening efficiency. Heliopolis was about to become part of the war.

xxxxx

"Who was that girl again?" Daniel inquired when they finally managed to get themselves a car. "I know she's with Sai, but I have trouble with names."

"Flay, Flay Allster." Miriallia explained from the back seat of the car, who she shared with Tolle, while Daniel and Kira occupied the front seats. "If I remember correctly, she is daughter of the foreign vice minister of Atlantic Federation."

"And Sai wrote her a love letter?" Daniel grinned. "I wonder what exactly he wrote." The car was one of the few vehicles on the highway and they were heading towards a security checkpoint, that lead to Morganroete Inc. facilities.

As the car stopped in front of a security gate, Kira shook his head. "Enough with it Daniel, that's Sai's business." He said while running the ID card trough the scanner. "I don't think you liked if we talked about you behind your back."

"Well, it might be more interesting, if Daniel had a girl." Tolle japed, his grin became even wider when Daniel glared at him from the front seat.

"What is that supposed to mean?" No one answered, instead everyone tried to keep a straight face. "Oh, sure! Go ahead, rub it in won't ya! I already told you, it was the wrong room." He knew perfectly well what everyone was almost laughing about. A week ago, he tried to confess to a girl he had a crush on, the problem was that he messed up the room numbers and sent the love letter to another girl. Things became even worse when it turned out that the girl, who got Daniel's letter by mistake, was obsessed with him, while Daniel disliked her. The whole thing turned into a fiasco. As a result Daniel lost both girls and even today his adventures were the main joke among the students. "Anyway, it turned out she already had a guy." He let out a sigh, that was supposed to sound careless. "Oh, well! Her loss, not mine."

When the gate opened, the car resumed moving. "By the way, where is Sai?"

"He and Kuzzey are already there, waiting for us." Tolle answered Kira's question. "Sai said, that there is a lot of work to do, so he left early, and Kuzzey decided to tag along."

"Lots of work..." Daniel quietly repeated. _This is going to be a long day._

xxxxx

"You finally came Kira." Sai Argyle, another student of Heliopolis, spoke from the place he was working at, while all four of them entered the room. Almost instantly Kira noticed an unknown person, that was leaning against the wall. Because of the hat, Kira couldn't make out weather the person was a girl or a boy.

On the other hand, Daniel didn't have any problems identifying the person's gender. _Nice looking girl. _He noted_, r_unning over an expert's gaze over the girl. Even though the clothes hid most of the parts, that would make identification easier, he couldn't miss the feminine facial features.

"Who is she?" Tolle whispered, sneaking a sideway glance at the girl.

"She is a guest of the professor. She was told to wait here." Sai answered. Almost everyone took a quick look at the unknown guest, but the girl ignored them and gave Daniel, whose scrutinizing gaze was fixed on her chest, a stern glare. When he noticed it, Daniel instantly stopped staring at her and hid behind his computer. Everyone began working and soon forgot about the girl.

After several minutes, the walls trembled, accompanied by sound of a distant rumble. The sudden tremor was strong enough to knock over a few computers. "What was that? Earthquake?" Daniel forgot the fact, that he was on a space station.

"I highly doubt that." Sai replied calmly and went for the door. "Maybe a meteorite or something." When he opened the door, there was a stream of people hurrying towards the shelters. "What happened?" Sai asked the nearest man. It was impossible to make out what he was saying, because almost everyone was talking at the same time, creating a flood of voices.

"We're attacked by ZAFT!" This was the only thing the small group of teenagers were able to hear. "The Mobile Suits have entered the colony."

"ZAFT? It's impossible." Tolle said incredulous. "Why would they attack us?" Suddenly someone brushed past him and left the room.

"Daniel! Were are you going?" Kira yelled, when he realized that it was his friend who had left trough the door.

Daniel didn't stop, he just shouted an answer over his shoulder. "I got to find my mom and dad. I want to be sure that they are safe." With this, he disappeared around the corner.

Everyone left the room. "I think that we should also go to the shelters." Sai suggested, everyone agreed ... almost everyone, because the professor's guest suddenly left the group and ran in the same direction as Daniel.

"Hey, wait!" Kira called, but no reply came. Silently cursing he began running after the girl. "Don't worry about me, just go!" He said to others and ran after the girl. After several seconds, he finally caught up with her. He grabbed her by the arm. "What are you doing? We must get to the shelters!"

The girl struggled to get out of his grip. "Why did you follow me?" She retorted. "You should better leave this place." Before she managed to finish that sentence another blast shook the entire building and a sudden gust blew trough the hallway, knocking off the girl's hat and revealing her blond hair.

Kira stared at her with a surprised look, he hadn't realized that the person he was holding was a girl. "You're a ... girl?" He stammered.

"Of course I am!" The girl snapped and resumed her effort to break out of Kira's grip. "What did you expect? Let me go!" Kira silently obeyed and released her. "Anyway just go! There's something I must find out!"

Kira looked behind him, the hallway was blocked by a pile of debris, probably a result of the previous explosion. "Go where? The path is blocked, I can't go back." The girl, who was observing the empty corridor, turned around and saw what he was talking about. Meanwhile Kira tried to come up with a solution. "Err ... this way!" He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her behind him, as he entered one of the accessible hallways.

"Hey, let me go, you idiot!" The girl protested, but Kira didn't pay any attention to her. He was certain, that could hear faint echo of gunshots in the distance.

"We should go to the factory, there should be shelters there."

xxxxx

When Daniel left his friends behind, he was only thinking about his parents. Daniel's parents were working at this facility and the proximity of the explosions, he could hear, might endanger them. Pushing his way trough the crowds of people, heading in the opposite direction, it took him some while to reach the elevators. Because of he alarm, no one used the elevators, since it was considered dangerous during emergency situations. Therefore, the elevators were empty, because everyone chose to use the stairways. For Daniel, the elevator was the only way, to gain access to the facilities his parents worked in. He pressed the button, which called the elevator car and waited for it to arrive. Impatiently pacing around, in front of the elevator doors, Daniel got a chance to think about the current situation. He had a good idea as to why ZAFT forces were here. His father had a ... unique view regarding secrecy. As a result, Daniel knew several details, kids his age shouldn't know. He knew, that Heliopolis had an important role in Earth Alliance's newest weapon development. While Daniel had no idea, what exactly these weapons were, he guessed that they had to be associated with his father's work. Daniel also knew, that his father, although in charge of the entire project, was actually working with something else. A some sort of ZAFT prototype was being examined on Heliopolis.

_I guess this is my chance to see what it really is. _He thought, when the elevator doors opened and allowed him to enter. Once he stepped inside, Daniel noticed a small keypad under the floor buttons. One had to enter the correct combination in order to reach the research laboratory beneath the building. Thanks to his father Daniel knew the correct combination, so he had no problem with the keypad. He entered the ten digit password and smiled when the elevator pinged and the doors closed, a few seconds later, the car began moving deeper into the building. Due to the importance of Daniel's destination, the elevator didn't stop at other floors. It seemed that there were other people who were trying to use the elevator. _Sorry, not this time. Besides, the safety instructions state the using elevators in emergency situation is dangerous. _Daniel ignored the fact, that he was breaking that rule himself.

After a moment, that seemed like an eternity to him, the elevator stopped and opened the doors. When Daniel left the elevator, he found himself standing in the middle of a long, brightly lit corridor, stretching in both directions. To his left, there were several doors, leading to various rooms and offices. The hallway itself turned to the right far away from the boy. Most of the doors were open and the rooms were empty. Their occupants had already left them. Daniel noticed a couple of documents and several datapads lying on the floor. "Probably everyone's already at the life pods. They really know how to flee at the first sign of trouble." Daniel turned his head in the other direction. To his right, he could see a single bulkhead at the end of the hallway. There were no other doors. _Hmm... probably those doors lead to the life pods. That way it would be logical to make them like this. _Daniel observed the airtight bulkhead. People working in this part of the building had their own life pods. In order to prevent information leaks.

With a quick decision Daniel began moving to his left, in a steady jog. He looked inside the various room as he passed them, but every single one was empty. Apparently his suspicions were right, everyone had already reached the life pods. However, he wanted to be sure, that his parents weren't here before he tried to save himself. When he turned around the corner, he noticed that there were more doors, stretching along the hallway. _Great, more rooms to search! _Daniel frowned and went to open the nearest door. Before he got to them, Daniel saw someone come out from the office further down the hallway.

The woman was a bit shorter than Daniel and looked to be in her late thirties. She was wearing a white set of clothes, ones often used by scientists. Her long, red hair were held back by a hairpin, so that they wouldn't fall in her eyes. Although approaching her fortieth birthday, the woman was quite attractive, the time had done little to affect her beauty. Right now, she was facing away from Daniel and was quickly walking towards the large doors at the end of the hallway, holding several datapads in her hands.

"Mom!" Daniel called, when he recognized her. He immediately began to run towards her.

The woman stopped and sharply turned around. "Daniel! What are you doing here?" She dropped several datapads because of the surprise. She looked like she had seen a ghost. "You shouldn't be here!"

"I know that, but I wanted to check if you and dad were okay." Daniel skidded to a halt in front of her and helped her to gather the datapads.

Miranda gave him a scrutinizing look. "I know about that, Daniel, what I meant was, that this is a off-limits area and you ..." She stopped in mid sentence, when realization struck her. "Let me guess, your father told you the password." Daniel gave her the datapads he was holding in his hand and nodded agreement. "That man, security protocols are for a reason." The female scientist said. "Well, it doesn't matter. Now, that ZAFT is here, secrecy isn't an issue any more. Follow me."

"Wait the life pods are in the direction." Daniel worried, when his mother took a few steps toward the large doors.

"I know, but there are things I and your father must take care of." Miranda replied and beckoned him to follow. As they made their way towards the doors, she shot an evaluating glance at her son. "Tell, me Daniel, how much your father told you about his work?"

"Well, he told me that there are several new weapons being built right here on Heliopolis and that they are supposed to turn the tide of war." He answered, while his mother ran a ID card trough the scanner and opened the doors. He followed her trough the doors and down another hallway, passing several other doors. "He also told me, that he was working on something else, than those weapons, but he didn't tell what exactly."

"He couldn't tell you because we have no idea what it really is." Daniel's mother explained. Their conversation was interrupted, when another explosion shook the entire building. Daniel could have swore that he saw small bits of dust falling from the ceiling. Apparently the battle was still raging on. "We have been working on it for a few months, but because the G-project took priority, we didn't have enough personnel or resources to do a more accurate examination of the prototype."

"Prototype? What prototype?" Daniel immediately asked. Miranda didn't answer, she was busy dealing with yet another scanner. "Mom, what are you talking about?" Daniel repeated his question.

"You'll see." The woman said curtly. The doors opened and Daniel stood at the entrance of a large room. It was filled with several computers and other electronic equipment. Huge data storage devices were aligned along the opposite wall. Daniel's gaze traveled across the modern computers, that were placed near the wall to his right. Computers like those, were usually used for extremely difficult tasks. With his mouth agape, the boy entered the room. A few tables in the middle of the room, with more computers on them were practically the only pieces of furniture. However once he looked to his left, Daniel forgot everything else. The wall he was looking at wasn't actually a wall in the base meaning of the word. There was only a thick layer of glass, separating this room from the huge hangar on the other side. Small doors allowed access to the adjacent room, but that was the last thing on Daniel's mind. His gaze was firmly fixed on the large machine behind the glass. "What is that?"

xxxxx

The sounds of battle became louder with every step he took. Kira and the girl were running for several seconds now and he had a strong hunch that they should reach some sort of an exit soon enough. _It seems that man was right and there really are Mobile Suits inside the station ... but why? ... What's the point in attacking us? ... This colony is neutral ... Why? _He continued to pull the girl behind him as they ran towards the light seen in at the end of the hallway. Another explosion forced them to slow down a little. When they finally reached the end of the dark corridor, Kira realized, that they were in a large hangar.

The hangar was already damaged by the battle, resulting in thick smoke and raging flames engulfing large parts of the building. Despite this, several factory workers tried to keep ZAFT's commando team away from two trailers. Unfortunately their efforts were in vain. The attackers, continued to push forward, picking off the defending soldiers one by one.

The girl, Cagalli Yula Athha, was looking at noticed that the two trailers were actually transports for two large Mobile Suits. _It can't be ... ORB couldn't be involved with the Alliance ... ORB is supposed to be neutral. _But the evidence was in front of her. By designing weapons like this for the Earth Alliance, ORB's neutrality was in danger. Cagalli already had suspicions, that something like this was going on, but she hoped that they were nothing more than rumors. However, seeing this with her own eyes, she realized that the rumors were true. "I knew it." She collapsed to her knees. "Earth Alliance's new mobile weapon ... Father you traitor!"

The girl's cry alerted one of the combatants on the ground. A woman, with chestnut brown hair quickly turned around and pointed her assault rifle in the girl's direction. Fortunately, it wasn't another attacker. Standing on the catwalk several stories above her, Murrue Ramius spotted two children, observing the battle. _What? Children? _She watched in confusion, as the boy helped the girl to get up one her feet and pulled her in the direction of the nearest shelter.

"Stop fooling around!" Kira admonished the girl. "Just keep running!" They kept running until they reached the elevators, leading to the shelter. Two out of three shelters were locked down, probably because they were full. The third one had a green light flashing above the elevator doors. _At least we can use this one. _Kira activated the intercom.

"Is there someone out there?" A voice from the speaker asked.

"Yes, a friend and I ... Please, open the door."

"Two?"

"Yes."

"We're already full. Shelter 37 is in the left block ... Can you get there?" Kira looked around the corner. He could see where the other shelter was, but that meant he had to pass the battle, in order to get there. _It's too dangerous for her. _Kira didn't doubt that he could make it to the shelter, but he didn't want to expose the girl to danger.

Turning his attention back to the intercom he spoke again. "Then at least take one of us, a girl!"

Whoever was on the other side, hesitated for a moment, before answering. "Very well. Send her down." The doors beeped and hissed open, revealing an empty elevator.

"Get in." The girl looked at him questiongly and didn't move. Running out of patience he grabbed her shoved her inside the elevator. The girl tried to resist him and protested against it, but Kira didn't let up. "Just get in! I'll get to the other one ... It'll be okay." He managed to push her inside and closed the doors.

"Wait ..." Cagalli began, but the elevator interrupted her by moving down. Kira stood for a moment, then set off in a sprint, running toward the other shelter. On his way there, he glanced at the battle below. The situation hadn't changed much. Only there were more smoke and less defenders. ZAFT commandos might have lost one or tow of their numbers, but they were inflicting a lot more damage than they received. Suddenly he noticed one of the ZAFT commandos, that had climbed up on the catwalk. The soldier was aiming his weapon at the woman on the Mobile Suit, Kira noticed earlier.

"Look out, behind you." He suddenly yelled. Kira didn't know when he decided to warn her, but the woman reacted with impressive speed. She turned around, and snapped off a couple of shots, spending the last bullets in the clip. It might have been a potshot, but the commando fell down.

Murrue sighed a relief and relaxed a little. If she hadn't been warned, the enemy soldier would have probably killed her. Coordinators were usually good shots. _It's him again. _Murrue noticed the boy she had seen earlier, then she frowned when it turned out that her rifle was empty. Her thoughts were cut off, when a nearby soldier was killed by the remaining ZAFT commandos, a moment later she dived out from behind the cover and used the opportunity to take down another enemy with her sidearm. "Come here." Murrue called the boy.

"I'll head to the shelter in the left block. Don't worry about me."

"The doors are the only thing remaining from it." A loud explosion, coming from the direction of Kira's destination, proved her point. When Kira got back up to his feet, the explosion had knocked him down, he decided to do as he was told and ran toward an area where he would be directly above the Mobile Suit. "Come here!" Murrue said again, running to the cockpit area. She had to stop however, when she saw Kira jumping over the railings. "What is he doing?" Murrue was even more surprised, when she saw Kira land on the Strike's, the name of this Mobile Suit, shoulder. While the jump looked impressive, the landing wasn't. Kira tumbled to the surface.

Meanwhile one of the Alliance's soldiers managed to shoot one of the enemy pilots. "Rusty!" Another pilot cried, when he saw his friend's death. With a mad cry, the pilot charged at the opponent, firing his assault rifle as he moved. Even while running, his aim remained almost perfect, allowing him to avenge his friend's death. A second later he heard a woman's voice, she was saying something, but what, it didn't matter. The pilot jumped around and fired the last bullets at the only target he could see.

Murrue winced, when she felt the bullets graze her arm. The woman staggered and fell down, but the commando wasn't done yet. When he realized that his weapon was empty, he pulled out a knife and activated his jetpack. The additional push allowed him to jump on top of the Mobile Suit, where he saw the wounded woman and a boy about his age, who tried to help her. _Another one. It doesn't matter. _He thought and hurried to finish them off. Two Naturals, one wounded and another one a civilian, were hardly a threat to a Coordinator commando. He was almost close enough to attack them, when he had a look at the teen's face. The confusion made him stop his movement, with his knife ready to strike, he could only stare at the familiar face.

Kira felt the same feeling overwhelming him, when he saw the face of the enemy soldier. Slowly standing up he realized that the attacker looked familiar. "Athrun?"

"Kira?" For a second, both youths just stood there, unable to move or say something. With fire raging around them, they stared at each other. Neither of them believed in what they saw. Murrue broke the confusion by aiming her handgun at Athrun and firing several shots. The hostile movement was enough for Athrun to snap out of it and use his jetpack to get away to safety. He could hear the bullets whiz past him, Murrue's wound and the resulting pain was enough to affect her aim.

Kira was still staring at who he suspected had to be his old friend, when Murrue gathered her strength and pushed him in the cockpit and jumped in after him. Once inside, she began activating the Mobile Suit. One by one, the machine's systems came to life and the giant machine began to move.

xxxxx

Daniel's exclamation drew Christopher's attention. He looked up from his workplace and noticed his son, standing near the entrance, while Miranda brought him the datapads, he asked her to get for him. Christopher though that he and his wife were the only ones remaining in this part of the building, all the other scientists ran off at the same moment the alarms went off, being a cowardly bunch as they were. If this would have been an ordinary job, he might as well done the same, but the last few hours turned out to be extremely fruitful and Christopher couldn't allow a mere attack to disturb something like this. Miranda had remained, although her reasons were different. As Christopher's wife, she couldn't leave her husband behind. After all she promised to remain with him forever, all those years ago in front of the altar. Also, Miranda was Christopher's assistant and her task was to help him with his job.

Christopher Stokes the leading scientist of the G-project on Heliopolis and Halberton's old friend didn't look like a stereotypical scientist. The short, black hair, already greying in some places with tiny wrinkles around the blue eyes and his fit body made him look more like an officer in the army than a scientist. These were the results of everyday exercises he performed ever since he was a young student.

He stood up from his seat and looked at his son. "Daniel, what are you doing here? You should get to safety."

Miranda threw a glare at him. "For someone, who gave him the access code for the laboratory, you sound rather strange, Christopher Stokes." The man winced and tried not to look at his wife.

"Oh, right. I forgot." He took the datapads from her and addressed Daniel. He wanted to tell his son to leave, but then he realized that Miranda had probably tried the same and if Daniel was still here, it meant that she had failed. He was smart enough not to try persuade his son himself, Miranda was better at things like that and if she couldn't do it, the he had no chance.

Daniel's gaze finally broke away from the object on the other side of the glass wall. "Dad ... Is this you and mom been working on?" He took a few steps closer to the window.

Christopher glanced at the monitor, everything was working on auto, so he had nothing to do. Miranda was working with her computer and ready to help if anything went wrong. "I guess I have a couple of moments to spare." He stood next to his son. "Impressive isn't it?" Christopher pointed his head toward the machine. Now that the machine was repaired and cleaned from the dust layers it allowed everyone to get a full view at it. The 17 meters tall machine was painted blue, with copper brown paint on the edges. There were also dark, almost black lines stretching along the sides of it's limbs and chest. "Prototype or Amputee, as some of us call it." He said with a chuckle and Daniel saw why. The short arms looked almost comical, if there weren't three fingers on the inner side of the triangular shaped endings, Daniel would suspect that the arms were cut off. The three fingers, aligned in Y position looked too fragile to hold something.

"Prototype One? I thought you said, that you were working on something else, other than Alliance's weapons." Daniel said, a deep frown on his forehead.

His father chuckled again. "Yes and this is it. It is called prototype, because that's what it is." He explained and took another step closer. "A few months ago, this machine landed on the Moon and destroyed one of the Alliance's ship and it's escorts. We suspect, that this is a next generation Mobile Suit made by ZAFT. But after these months, I've seen enough to doubt that it was made by ZAFT." His face became serious.

"Why? And if it isn't made by ZAFT, then who else?"

"I don't know. We have only touched a tiny surface of the secrets this machine holds. It is too ..." He paused, searching for the right word.

"Advanced?" Daniel tried to help.

"Advanced yes, but it is too ... ground breaking. I mean, just look at it, does it remind you of a Mobile Suit? Does anything about it looks familiar or ..." He turned around and looked in his son's eyes, as if trying to transmit his thoughts without words.

"What your father is trying to say is, that even new units made by one faction share some sort of a resemblance." Daniel's mother explained from where she was working. "And this unit doesn't share anything with a GINN, DINN or other units, used by ZAFT."

"Thank you dear." Christopher smiled and turned his attention back to the blue machine. "While we couldn't tell where this machine came from, there are a couple of things we were able to apply to the five G-weapons. The most incredible would be the Phase Shift armor. Do you know what it is?" He observed Daniel's reflection in the window.

Daniel thought for a moment. "I remember reading it in one of your documents. I think it was a brand new kind of armor that provided increased protection against projectiles."

"Not increased, but almost perfect protection." The scientist smiled. "And this is where we got the idea from. You see, this machine is protected by armor no one has ever seen before. One layer is made from a very special kind of alloy. It has a remarkable ability to harden, whenever it comes into contact with electricity or heat. And it remains in that state for several hours. During which it is highly resistant to projectile weaponry. We analyzed this technology, improved it and thus the Phase Shift armor was created. Although our variant requires constant energy flow, it provides a much better protection. Another part of the armor was highly resistant to energy beams, but right now we are unable to understand the principles behind it. However..."

He once again turned around and made his way toward his computer, while Daniel continued to stare at his father's work. "There is one thing that puzzles me the most. It's the prototype's control system. The prototype needs a special program, so that it could be activated. All these months we haven't been able to activate it, because the internal systems were damaged and parts of the program had to be repaired. Also, while it can be controlled from the cockpit, the prototype can be piloted by launching the Core Protocol program." He sat down in front of his computer. "Right now, I and your mother have almost repaired the program. Once it's done we can hope to activate the prototype." He fell silent and fixed his gaze on the monitor while resting his head on his arms.

Daniel tried to digest what he had just heard, but then he heard a very strong explosion and the entire room trembled from it's force. "Mom, dad! I think that we should get out of here. The battle is becoming stronger than before." He worried. Miranda also looked a bit scared and glanced at her husband, who just shook his head.

"I can't leave before this is completed. You should go on without me." Two almost simultaneous and negative answers met the suggestion.

"Dad, is it really that important?"

"I have worked on this for several months. I can't leave this behind." Daniel gave up and began to walk back and forth along the glass wall. Once in a while he glanced at the Prototype, standing in the bright hangar. After a while, he glimpsed at his father and almost stopped. His father wasn't looking at the computer anymore, instead, he was looking at the Prototype with an intense look in his eyes as if nothing else existed. He was determined to repair the program and unravel the Prototype's secrets. He didn't even notice his wife, who sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

After a few more seconds, the computer beeped, notifying Christopher, that the work was finished, and the program was repaired. "Finally, it is done." He said, his voice quavering, as he reached for the keyboard and began typing. However, his work wasn't allowed to progress any further. A particulary powerful explosion shook the entire building, further damaging the already weakened structure. Everyone in the room fell down to the floor, along with several computers. Daniel found himself staring at the ceiling. With a frightening realization he noticed dozens of growing cracks.

"Look ..." He began to say, but was cut short, when a large part of the ceiling gave in and came down as several tons of rubble. Something cold and hard hit Daniel's forehead, but fortunately, the blow wasn't strong enough to knock him unconscious. Someone, probably his mother, screamed and then everything went silent. Slowly rising up from the floor, the young boy tried to see what happened to his parents. "Mom! Dad!" But he couldn't see anything trough the thick layer of dust. "Are you two okay?" He stumbled in the direction, where his parents were supposed to be, trying to inhale as less dust as possible.

The dust were slowly settling down, allowing him to see a bit further. Someone groaned, definitely because of pain. "Dad!" Daniel darted toward the source of the sound and soon came upon a huge pile of debris, that filled the rest of the room. The boy realized, that the rubble had buried his parents. A large part of the ceiling had come down, right on top of his parents. Miranda was killed instantly, completely crushed beneath the rubble. Christopher was still alive the same piece of concrete, that killed his wife, had crushed his lower body, trapping him. Blood was already soaking out from underneath the concrete block.

"D-Daniel ..." His father breathed when he noticed his son. Daniel sported a nasty bruis on his forehead, but was otherwise unhurt. "I'm glad ... that y-you're okay."

"Please, don't talk." Daniel fought back his tears, which were already welling up in his eyes. "I'll get you out of there." He tried to pull him out by the armpits, but his father's painful scream implied, that he wasn't going anywhere.

"You can't help me."

However, Daniel wouldn't listen. He tried to remove the rubble, but without special equipment it was impossible. "I'll get you out, just wait."

"Listen to me!" Christopher rised his voice. "You can't help me!" When his son didn't listen and renewed his efforts, the scientist grabbed him with the only free arm and pulled him closer. "Stop that! You can't help me and you know that ... You must get out ... before this place is destroyed completely." He coughed up a clot of blood, which he spat out, the effort to talk drained his last strength. "Take this disk." He released the boy and dug out a disk from his breast pocket. He gave the object to his son. Daniel reluctantly took it. "Give it to the rear admiral Lewis Halberton. He's in charge of the eight fleet ... Inside the disk are the reports of my work ... and the Core Protocol program. Do not give this disk ... to anyone else."

"I can't leave you." Daniel sobbed, he tried not to look at the place, where his mother was. "Dad! I can't ..." He was interrupted by a loud slap from his father.

"I'M TELLING YOU TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!! NOW, DO IT!" Christopher put his every last bit of strength in his words. Afterwards, he gagged and his eyes closed.

Still holding the burning cheek, Daniel fought not to break out in tears. He wanted to remain here with his parents, it didn't matter what would happen to him, he didn't care anymore. He clutched the disk, his father gave him. Daniel's head throbbed a little, his father had put a lot of strength in that slap. And the pain just didn't go away. The pain was also the only thing, that forced him to get back up on his feet. _C'mon, pull yourself together! Do as you were told, get out of here and deliver the disk. There will be plenty of time for this later. _With great effort, he turned around and took a few steps forward. His breath became heavy and a violent scream tried to force it's way outside. Before he decided to let it out, something caught his eye.

The Prototype had changed. The dark lines had lit up and were full of bright blue, pulsing light. The huge eyes, at both sides of the head were pulsing as well. The whole machine seemed to have come back to life. It was as if the Prototype was closely observing him. Looking directly at Daniel. As if asking, _What will you do? What's your choice?_ Another series of loud cracks hastened Daniel's decision and he made a run for the small doors in the glass wall. He reached them at the same time, the rest of the ceiling began to collapse. Moving faster, than ever before, Daniel flung the door open and entered the hangar. Several stories of catwalk were attached to the walls. A small bridge led to the Prototype's head. The machine itself was probably standing on a elevator, because he could see large doors where the ceiling should be. Daniel didn't pause to thing about what exactly he should do next. He just did what seemed right. _Get inside the cockpit! _He thought, as he ran across the bridge to the center of the hangar, while the rest of the office was buried under rubble. He brutally brushed aside the thought, that told him, that his parents were now completely buried. _Now is not the time! _

When he reached the end of the bridge, he was surprised to see, that the cockpit wasn't where he thought it was. The Prototype's head had popped up and slid forward, revealing the cockpit beneath. Without stopping, he jumped over the railings and landed on top of the core. After a few more steps, he was next to the open cockpit and jumped inside. Daniel landed exactly in the pilot's seat strapped in and wavered. _What now? _His gaze traveled across the controls. He had general idea about how to pilot a Mobile Suit, but that was it. Meanwhile, the machine had probably reacted to the impact he made on the seat, because the head slid back and covered the opening. Also, an armored plate further separated Daniel from outside world, by closing the opening from this side. For a second the boy sat in complete darkness. "Think, think how do I get this thing moving?" Finally he decided to try out the old fashioned way.

He pressed a few buttons, mainly those who looked important. One his third attempt, Daniel pushed the right one. The displays in front of him came to life, while the cockpit walls around him lit up, showing him the outside world. The display in front of him indicated, that the Prototype was performing a systems check. "Generator online ... energy levels rising ... systems check ... done." A computerized voice informed him. Daniel was impressed with the speed, the Prototype activated. However, the last message was the most puzzling. "Muscle Tracer Pulverizer online. Warning, Muscle Trace linkup requested, for increased performance." Daniel had no idea what the computer meant by Muscle Trace linkup and frankly, he didn't care. All he wanted, was to get out of here.

He placed his feet on the pedals and his hands on the controls. He also noticed, that the seat had a strange, vertical opening in the middle of the backrest. The opening was running across the entire backrest and made sitting a bit uncomfortable. But that wasn't important. "Okay, let's see what I can do." Daniel muttered and pressed one of the pedals. The whole machine trembled and got off the ground, as the boosters roared to life, vomiting bright blue light. "Hmm ... just what I need." Daniel recalled the closed doors above the Prototype and pressed the pedal as hard as he could. The machine reacted by launching itself upward at a high speed. A moment later it crashed into the doors, leading to the surface. During the short amount of time, Daniel's machine had gained enough speed to break trough the doors and leave the underground hangar, after few more seconds he released the pedal and the Prototype began it's way down, as it was claimed by the Heliopolis's artificial gravity.

However, Daniel suddnely found himself in even more dangerous situation than being trapped inside a collapsing building. With a loud noise, the blue and brown machine landed near four Mobile Suits. Two GINNs, Aegis and Strike. "Oh crap..." Daniel could almost feel everyone's atention turning towards him.


	4. The crumbling world

The two GINN pilots, who were about to attack the Strike, hesitated when the machine, which identified itself to Daniel as Pulverizer, landed nearby. Athrun, Kira and Murrue also found themselves staring at the unexpected arrival. The blue and brown machine was standing about 100 meters to Strike's left, facing the three Coordinator piloted Mobile Suits. No one was really surprised by it's appearance. After all there were already five brand new Mobile Suits in the colony. Each sporting brand new technological achievements. Duel, Buster and Blitz had almost left the colony and didn't notice the Pulverizer's appearance, while everyone else couldn't miss the appearance of a new, 17 meters high, unknown variable.

Unknown, because no one knew which side it was on. ZAFT knew only about five Mobile Suits, four of which were in their possession. Murrue and Kira were likewise puzzled, by the new unit's allegiance. There was a high chance that the enemy had captured it as well. As for Daniel, he wasn't sure if there was someone on his side. All he knew was that the two GINNS were definitely enemies. The two other machines could belong to anyone.

Miguel Aiman was among the first who snapped out of the surprise. "A sixth prototype?" He ran a scan over the machine, but received a whole lot of "unknown" replies. "Shit! There was nothing about another one of these things in the briefing."

The pilot of the second GINN, Peter Thoburn, also ran a scan, but received the same response. "Maybe it's part of the security forces." Being the closest one, he turned his Mobile Suit to directly face the new threat.

"I don't think it's possible." Athrun quickly reprogrammed the Aegis's OS, while keeping one eye at the Strike. "Naturals can't pilot things like these." Meanwhile, his mind was occupied by something else. _Kira ... was that really you? ... No, it's impossible. _

"It doesn't matter. Athrun, as soon as you are ready, get back to the ship. Peter, you take care of that thing, while I'll handle this one." Miguel ordered and aimed the GINN's machine gun at the Strike.

Inside the Strike, the situation changed dramatically. For a moment the two people inside, were able to get a chance to catch their breaths. But now, one of the enemies was advancing towards them, even without the rised machine gun, the intent to harm was clear as day. Murrue moved the controls, forcing Strike to move away from the Miguel's GINN and it was about time, because as soon as the Strike moved, Miguel pressed the trigger and fired the machine gun. Several rounds whined past the staggering machine, damaging the nearby surroundings. Miguel frowned and swapped his weapon for the sword. Ever since the moment he found out, that Rusty wasn't the one who was piloting the fifth G-weapon, he had noticed that the machine's movements were erratic and jerky. More than that, the machine didn't seem to be carrying any weapon at all. All things pointed to a easy kill. Why waste ammo when he could do it the old fashioned style?

Murrue and Kira both gasped when they saw the green machine pull out it's sword and charge straight at them afterwards. Apparently, the enemy pilot knew, that they weren't much of a threat, which, no matter how they hated the idea, was true. Fortunately, Murrue had some knowledge about the Strike's controls, so when the GINN was about to attack, she quickly engaged the thrusters and made the Mobile Suit jump aside to safety. For now. But she had no idea for how long they would survive against a trained opponent. Even now, the GINN was once again on the attack, it's sword outstretched. With a high jump, the Mobile Suit came down for a chop, that was certainly strong enough to cleave them in half. Just moments before the sword reached it's would-be victim, Murrue pressed the PS armor button, while crossing Strike's arms above it's head for defense. With a distinctive hiss, the fruit of Christopher's work came to life and the Strike obtained a white-red-blue color pattern. Then the sword reached the machine's surface and stopped with a shower of sparks.

Miguel was a little more than surprised, when the GINN's sword stopped cold against the hardened armor. No matter how much he tried, Miguel couldn't force the blade any further. After several seconds of wasted effort the GINN jumped back, so that the pilot could regain his thoughts. "What was that? I couldn't damage that unit."

"These units are equipped with Phase Shift armor." Athrun's face appeared on the comm screen. He had completed reprogramming the OS and therefore knew about this feature. "When it is activated, the machine becomes invulnerable to GINN's sword." He explained and turned on the PS armor on his Mobile Suit. The Aegis gained a red color, as it's armor came to life. Athrun proceeded to destroy few incoming missiles with the head mounted CIWS, then he used the same weapons to take out the missile truck responsible for firing them.

Miguel uttered a curse before replying. "Fine, leave this area immediately. Don't keep standing around." Athrun took a last glance on the Strike and took off. While Miguel prepared to once again attack the Strike.

Meanwhile, Daniel experienced similar problems. He was also under attack, while sitting inside a machine he didn't know how to pilot. His enemy was merciful enough to instantly use the sword, sparing him the problems of being shot at. Of course that only meant, that he had a few more seconds to come up with something before his enemy reached him. "What should I do?" His gaze quickly flew over the controls. There had to be weapon controls somewhere, but there wasn't a single button that was marked "weapons", in fact none of the buttons had any indications about their purpose. Whoever, the pilot was before him apparently didn't need anything like that.

Daniel tried to push one of the buttons on one of the controls he held in his arms, but the only response he got was the same computerized female voice. "Function unavailable. Weapon selection required. Muscle Trace linkup requested." A strong impact reminded him about the current situation. While he was searching for the weapon controls, the GINN had reached him. With a sideway sweep, the sword struck the Pulverizer's left side above the waist and stopped. The powerful attack, which would have seriously damaged another GINN, left only a small dent in the armor. Peter blinked in surprise, but he didn't allow the emotion to affect his actions. With a fast movement the GINN pulled back it's sword, ready to deflect a counter blow. But nothing happened. The only movement the unknown machine made was the extending of it's ridiculously short, left arm in front of it. A second later, the machine ran forward with heavy, stomping steps. Taken by surprise of this strange movement Peter moved his Mobile Suit out of the Pulverizer's way and once again tried to slash it in half when it passed him. And once again the sword barely left a mark, althought it did a good job of forcing the opponent to stagger and almost fall over.

"Fuck you stupid machine!" Daniel cried, furiously jerking the controls and pushing various buttons and switches. The second attack from the GINN, threw him forward against the displays, but he was violently pulled back by the restraints thus preventing him form smashing his head against the front panel. He once again pushed the pedal which forced his machine to make a high jump at the same time Peter was about to jab the sword into Pulverizer's side. Daniel used this moment to wipe the blood from his eyes. It didn't hurt, but the blood, which was constantly trickling in his eyes certainly annoyed him. The wound on his forehead wasn't serious, but all head wounds had a nasty habit of bleeding like hell, even if the wound was shallow. "Calm down and think, that guy will soon come up with something else, than to repeatedly keep bashing me with that sword." Just like before, the Pulverizer was beginning it's descent to the ground as Daniel removed his foot from the pedal. While doing so, he moved the right control and was glad to see the right arm moving as well. "Okay, so these must be the controls for the arms." He used the new information to retract both arms to their previous positions. However, this moment of bliss vanished when several rounds barely missed him. The GINN's pilot had pulled out the machine gun and was using it to put more pressure on Daniel's already nervous mind. One bullet grazed the armor and ricocheted away, doing a lot more than making Daniel feel nervous.

The situation became even worse, just before the Pulverizer landed, putting a building between him and his opponent, Daniel noticed that the Strike was occupied with the second GINN. Apparently whoever piloted Strike, had activated it's PS armor, because the machine was undamaged by the GINN's attack. The landing was a bit harder, than he expected, forcing him to release the controls and he hit his hands against another set of buttons. "FCS engaged." The computer announced and a bright grid appeared on the visor. The grid disappeared a second later, but now some things were different. Aegis, Strike and both GINNs, even the one behind the building had translucent frames around them. "Warning, lock on detected. Possible enemy contact identified. Unable to identify the attacking unit. ID database update requested. Muscle Trace linkup requested." Even if the computer was unable to identify any of the units nearby, the program was smart enough to respond to the lock on, by identifying the GINN by a red frame. A second later, the system identified the other GINN as a unit of the same type and it was also surrounded by a red frame.

"Finally some cooperation." Daniel sighed and once again gripped the controls, but was shocked when Peter's GINN jumped over the building between them. "Oh ... Crap!" The pilot cursed and once more tried to find out what some of the buttons did. He also found out more about Pulverizer's movement control, when he managed to turn the machine against the enemy. The GINN landed and fired the machine gun a few more times. This time he scored a couple of direct hits, but was once again surprised by the durability, the blue and brown machine's armor boasted. Two dents, a graze and one gap now adorned the Pulverizer's core, but the damage was far from serious.

"What the hell is wrong with this thing!" Peter cried and once again fired his weapon, but before he could do that, the lock on alarm went on and his reflexes kicked in before he could fire. Peter's Mobile Suit dodged to it's right. Dodged the attack that didn't come.

"Crap! I finally got a lock, but there's no weapon equipped." Daniel swore audibly. He had managed to get a lock on, but was unable to fire a weapon. The enemy would resume his attack any second, and this time he would finish him. Another series of randomly picked buttons on the controls awarded him with a long awaited response. The computer didn't inform him about his choice, but Daniel noticed, that one of the displays showed something about some kind of cannons. He didn't bother to read what was it about, but the word ,equipped, was more than enough for him. _Please work this time. Please work this time. Please work. _The desperately pushed the buttons, which he long suspected to be the triggers and was awarded with two azure bolts streaking towards the target from the dual plasma cannons on Pulverizer's back. He didn't know if they would hit or not, so he kept the triggers pressed. The first pair missed, reducing large spots of the building to slag. The FCS (fire control system) automatically corrected the firing and the next pair struck the GINN's head and right shoulder. The head was destroyed and the shoulder damaged, before Peter could counter this threat, two more shots reached the GINN's chest, melting the armor like butter. The GINN staggered and received two more hits. This time in the cockpit, reducing the pilot to nothing more than steam. The last two shots set off the batteries, which resulted in a powerful explosion, sending small parts of the Mobile Suit and pieces of building in every direction.

"Finally, I got him." Daniel sighed and released the triggers, noting their location afterwards. The boy checked out the overall status. "Pulverizer, huh?" He noticed the name on the screen. From what he could tell, everything was working properly, despite the two blows and a couple of shots the GINN managed to land. The voice once again informed him about that Muscle Trace thing it kept repeating. "What the hell is this Muscle Trace linkup?" He noticed that one of the displays contained a command "Muscle Tracing" and a line, poining towards the edge of the screen, to a nearby button. "So this must activate it..." His finger hovered above the button, while he tried to decide, whether to press it or not. _I'd better not, who knows what will happen? _He rised his eyes, just in time to witness the second GINN explode in cloud of smoke and flame.

xxxxx

Murrue slowly opened her eyes, immediately she was overwhelmed by intense headache, as if the shoulder wound wasn't enough. Everything seemed a bit hazy, but it passed soon enough and she could recall what happened. The sudden attack ... Battle near the Mobile Suits ... That strange boy, whom she pushed inside the cockpit ... She also, recalled the moment when that same boy took her place at Strike's controls, reprogrammed the OS and defeated the GINN. Then, Murrue became aware of her surroundings, she wasn't inside the cockpit anymore, instead she was lying on one of the few benches that were still intact, under a canopy. The woman groaned, when the pain in her shoulder intensified, apparently the wound was painful, but not serious.

"You woke up." A young girl said cheerfully, she was sitting on the nearby bench. "Kira!" She called someone, Murrue turned her head to the other side, but the sudden movement only worsened her feeling.

"You better not move." Kira said and knelt down beside her. _It's him. _Murrue recognized the boy, who was inside the cockpit with her. "Sorry," He added after a while. "What I did, was irresponsible."

"Here, do you want some water?" Miriallia had brought a water bottle and offered it to her.

Murrue sat up and took the drink, using the chance to quench her thirst. The recent events turned out to be more exhausting than she thought. However Tolle's exclamation brought her attention toward Strike. Only then Murrue noticed that the Mobile Suit was parked next to the canopy, they occupied. The machine's PS armor was down and it seemed that it had suffered light damage despite the advanced protection. But the fact that shocked her, were two boys on the Mobile Suit. One was standing near the cockpit hatch, while the second one was sitting in the pilot's seat.

"Why did it become gray again?"

"The main battery is off or something."

"Get away from that unit!" Murrue ordered and pulled out her handgun. The shot missed Kuzzey's head by mere centimeters, and certainly got her word across. Fighting back the pain, Murrue got up and approached them. She also noticed another boy, who was standing in front of the Strike, confusion present in his face.

Kira jumped to his feet. "What are you doing?" He ran after her. "Stop it! They're the ones who carried you down while you were unconscious." But the only thing Kira achieved was a gun muzzle, now aimed at him and forcing him to take a step back.

"I appreciate the fact, that you saved me. But this is a top secret of the army. It's not something the civilians should know about." Murrue explained in a tired voice. "Now, everyone move over there ... Tell me your names, one at a time." The children did as they were told, after all it was hard to disagree with someone, who was holding a gun. "I am Murrue Ramius. I'm a commissioned officer in the Earth Alliance Army. I'm sorry but..." She suddenly stopped and everyone knew why. With heavy, almost uncontrolled steps, another machine approached them. It was the same strange Mobile Suit they saw earlier.

"Is it ZAFT again?" Tolle asked, closely observing the Pulverizer. Kira glanced at the Strike, but dismissed the idea. The other pilot would kill him soon before he could activate the Mobile Suit. For now, they were at the mercy of the blue and brown machine's pilot.

Murrue was also puzzled by the current situation. _Could it be another prototype?_ _It certainly doesn't look like it belongs to ZAFT. _She also noted the almost uncontrolled movement. _That means the pilot must be someone else, than whoever was supposed to pilot that thing. _

"Is it ZAFT, Ms. Ramius?" Tolle repeated his question.

"I don't know, it shouldn't be. Anyway be careful."

Fortunately the approaching machine stopped near the trees, that were growing nearby. For several seconds nothing happened. The Pulverizer stood completely motionless, then without any warning it collapsed on it's knees. Few of them felt the ground tremble a little. When the machine was down on it's knees, it's head rised up and slid forward, apparently opening the cockpit, because a few seconds later someone emerged from the opening. Slowly, the figure climbed down and reached the ground. Miriallia couldn't see the pilot's face, but his clothes looked familiar. "Isn't that Daniel?" She whispered to her friends.

The pilot took several wobbly steps and suddenly screamed and fell down to his knees, while clasping his arms around himself. "You're right it's him." Tolle said and ran toward his friend, while Miriallia and others followed him.

They completely ignored Murrue, who was surprised by the act, that the other machine was also piloted by a boy. "Wait, Do you know him?"

"Yes, he is our friend." Kira replied over his shoulder and continued to run after his friends. _Where did he get that? ... What's wrong with him? _He wondered when Daniel kept on screaming. "Something bad must have happened to him." He noticed Miriallia kneel down and embrace him, as if comforting him. "What's wrong?" He asked when he reached them. Kira noticed, that even though Miriallia was Tolle's girlfriend, Tolle didn't move when Daniel suddenly hugged the girl, he and others shared a depressed look on their faces.

Daniel had stopped screaming, but he was still weeping. Shortly after he defeated the GINN, his nerves broke down, unable to keep back his emotions. "Mom ... Dad ... We should have ..." He wasn't able to say anything else, but Kira got the message. He felt sorry for Daniel, no one deserved to lose their parents so early in life, hell no one deserved to lose their parents at any time of life. Losing them because of old age was horrible, but having them killed because of war was even more terrible. Kira hoped that Daniel would be able to recover from this loss.

Murrue walked up to them, she didn't run, because she still felt tired and her injury was fresh. "What's wrong? Who is he?" She asked Kira, who was standing closest to her.

"His parents died just now." Kira quietly explained in a sad voice. Daniel had calmed down and Kira didn't want to remind him about that. "He is our friend, another student from the academy. His name is Daniel Stokes." Murrue tensed, she knew the name Stokes. Two of the most important people in this project were named Stokes. He suppressed her urge to ask about that, this wasn't the time and place. Meanwhile Tolle and Sai helped Daniel stand up and proceeded toward the canopy with everyone else. Daniel was completely silent now, and it seemed that he didn't care about his surroundings, nor anyone nearby. He sat on the bench, his head in his arms and stared at the ground in front of him.

Murrue pulled Kira aside from the group. "Listen, I need you to get into that Mobile Suit and try to contact the Earth Forces. I don't know what ZAFT is up to and we certainly need some help."

"Earth Forces? So they have to do something with these things?" Kira asked, his voice became upset. "That's why ZAFT attacked us? This is a neutral territory."

"Neutral or not, Heliopolis is currently part of the war. And whether you like it or not so are you." Murrue retorted. "I'm sorry to drag you all into this, but right now I need your help." Kira looked at her and after a few moments turned around and went towards the Strike.

While Murrue told Kira what exactly to do and sent Sai and Kuzzey after a trailer with one of the Striker packs, Tolle and Miriallia tried to cheer Daniel up. Miriallia also tended to the wound on his forehead. At first they couldn't get any response from him, as he just continued to stare at a spot in front of him. They were almost ready to give up when Daniel suddenly replied. He took a deep breath and slowly ran his hands over his face and hair. "Thank you guys." He said in a constrained voice. "I don't know what would I do without you." Although his voice became normal again, there was something different about it. Something which his friends couldn't quite put a finger on. "It's good to see that you're okay."

"Daniel, are you sure you're okay." Tolle felt uneasy, when Daniel talked in that somewhat strange voice. "Maybe you should lie down a bit."

"No, I'm fine. It's better if I keep my mind busy for a while." He closely observed the Mobile Suit and Kira, who was busy trying to contact anyone for help. Meanwhile Murrue's gaze was traveling from the black haired boy to the strange machine.

"Where did you get that thing?" She slowly approached him. Daniel glanced at her, noting the gun she held by her side. Murrue traced his gaze and holstered the weapon.

"My parents were working with it." Daniel explained, his face remained expressionless. "And it's not part of the G-project." He said, before Murrue could ask him about that.

"It's not?" Murrue was surprised by the fact that this boy knew about the G-project in the first place. "If it's not made by Earth Alliance, then who did it? And how do you know about the project?"

"My father thought that it is a prototype made by ZAFT. To answer your second question, my dad never really obeyed security protocols."

"ZAFT's prototype Mobile Suit?" Murrue gasped, once again glancing at the machine.

Daniel shook his head. "It's not a Mobile Suit. That thing identified itself as a Muscle Tracer, called Pulverizer." A sudden realization struck him. _Could the name Muscle Tracer be somehow connected with that Muscle Trace linkup? If so, then it might explain some things about it's origin. _He noted to himself to examine the Pulverizer's programs for any information later. "Anyway, what are we going to do now?" He changed the topic.

"I asked Kira to contact someone for help. It's impossible for them to wipe out our entire forces on this colony in such a short time. If we manage to get some backup and get ourselves organized, we are bound to figure out what to do next." Murrue explained with a sigh. "Listen, Daniel. I'm sorry about what happened to your parents. I knew them, they were good people." Daniel tensed, when she mentioned his parents, but he forced himself to stay calm.

"Thank you, Ms ... er ..."

"Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of the Earth Forces."

"Thank you, Ms. Ramius." Daniel said and looked at the Pulverizer, near the edge of the forest. That machine was the only thing that reminded him about his parents work. Sadly, the same work that caused their deaths. He remembered about the disk in one of his pockets and the task his father gave him. _Give the disk to the rear admiral Halberton. Even on the verge of death my dad keeps thinking about his work. Fine, I'll grant you your wish. I'll give the disk to Halberton. _On that day, he also promised something else to himself. _I'll continue your work, and I will uncover the secrets of that machine. And I promise, that I will avenge your deaths. I will destroy those, who attacked this colony. _His fists clenched so tightly, that they became almost white. His gaze traveled across the lines on Pulverizer's body, the light in them pulsated in a slow and steady rhythm, reminding him of arteries sending energy, instead of blood, to the various parts and systems. While looking at it, Daniel realized that he had something more, than a strange, unexamined machine in front of him. He had a tool, with which to exact his revenge on people who were to blame for his parents' deaths.

Meanwhile Kira was busy with the communications system. He tried to contact someone, but the interference was too high and there wasn't enough power to increase the system's output. Aftre a few more tries, all of which went unanswered he gave up and left the cockpit. "I couldn't do it. There's not enough power and the jamming is too strong." He informed everyone as he reached the canopy. "For a moment I thought that I got trough to someone, but the signal broke up."

"When those two will arrive with the trailer, the power pack will provide enough energy." Murrue assured him. "Then you can try again."

"Excuse me," Daniel perked up from the bench. "But if you want to contact someone, I can try to do that from the Pulverizer. From what I can tell, that thing has lots of power." However, before finished the sentence they picked up a distant noise, which became louder with every second. It was Sai and Kuzzey, who were returning with the trailer. The large vehicle pulled over behind the Mobile Suit and both boys jumped out a second later.

"There it is. Trailer, number five." Sai pointed at the truck. "The entire factory is in complete mess and we couldn't find anyone."

"Yeah, apparently everyone has reached the shelters by now." Kuzzey cut in.

Sai adjusted his shades and asked. "What should we do now?"

"The trailer is equipped with a terminal, that will allow to equip Strike with the power pack. The power pack comes together with the weapons, so equip them as it is." Murrue replied and looked at Kira. "When it is done, you can try the communications again." Kira nodded agreement and went to enter the cockpit again, while Sai walked over to the trailer and, after a brief search, found the terminal and used it to begin the equipping procedure. Others gasped when the trailer's hatch opened, revealing nasty looking weaponry, most notably a huge energy weapon, that looked like it was taken from a warship. No one doubted it's destructive potential. One shot from a thing like that and not even memories about the victim would remain.

The explosion on the main support shaft, forced everyone to look up. Part of the central shaft, that prevented the whole colony from collapsing went up in flames. Soon a Mobile Suit emerged from the explosion. The white CGUE, used by aces or commanders, was soon followed by Earth Alliance's Moebius Zero. Those familiar with the Zero's armaments realized that this unit was damaged judging by the absence of its gunbarrels. It probably had sustained damage fighting the ZAFT machine.

Everyone on the ground was scared, when the CGUE changed it's course and headed towards them, utterly ignoring the orange Mobile Armor behind it. It seemed to be more anxious to take out the Strike, than the previous opponent. Everyone quickly tried to find some cover. Anything would do, as long as it was able to protect them from the Mobile Suit's weapons. Daniel on the other hand made a run for the Pulverizer, he was eager to get some payback at the attackers. The CGUE's pilot hadn't noticed the Muscle Tracer due to the fact that it was located next to the trees and partially obscured by them.

Probably Kira was in the worst situation. He was sitting inside the Strike's cockpit, while the Mobile Suit was in plain view and was also the enemy's target. He quickly closed the cockpit in order to keep himself safe, or at least safer. But the enemy was too close a few more seconds and Strike would be riddled with holes. Fortunately whoever was piloting that Zero saved him. The CGUE was forced to break off it's attack in order to get out of the Mobile Armor's way. That earned Kira a few seconds. He grabbed the keyboard, pulled it closer and began entering the commands. Someone, he couldn't make out who, cried for him to turn on the power. _I'm already on it. And the shouting isn't making it easier. _He furiously typed on the keyboard. Kira had become more knowing about operating the Strike, but there were still a few unknown factors left. It was a good thing that he reprogrammed the OS during the battle, because it was a lot easier working with a system he was familiar with.

Kira rised his eyes and noticed that the dogfight between the two airborne units was almost over. The CGUE was rapidly closing in on the Zero, ready to finish the fight with the heavy sword. But once again, the pilot of the Mobile Armor evaded the deadly blow, losing only it's linear gun in the process. With it's last enemy disabled the CGUE resumed it's approach to Strike. At the same time Kira felt another light push when the trailer's machinery attached the last parts of the weapon pack to the Mobile Suit. Launcher Strike was ready for combat and it was about time already. The power indicator barely managed to turn on, when Kira activated the PS armor. _I'm safe. _Kira thought with a huge relief, when the armor came online. Across the clearing, the Pulverizer, still unnoticed, almost jumped to it's legs when Daniel moved the controls. However, once more fate denied the airborne Mobile Suit to attack it's target. Firing the powerful positron cannons, the Archangel blasted it's way inside the colony, leaving the support shaft where it was stationed. The sudden appearance of the white ship brought a pause in the battle.

The pause didn't last for long, as the CGUE fired a burst from the machine gun, forcing the ship to take evasive action. Then the pilot fired another durst, this time in Strike's direction. "Shit!" Kira gasped and moved the Strike in front of his friends, thus preventing them from being killed. At this time Daniel intervened, the two plasma cannons, fired azure bolts one after another. The attack came so suddenly that Daniel almost succeeded in shooting down Rau Le Creuset. Only the skill of the CGUE's pilot prevented that from happening. One of the plasma bolts passed so close that it actually scorched the machine's chest, while the other one missed entirely.

"What? Another machine?" Rau frowned in surprise. There were supposed to be only five prototypes on Heliopolis, four of them were already captured, while the last one was down on the ground. "Have the Naturals made six of them?" He mused, while dodging Arhangel's CIWS and Pulverizer's plasma bolts. He tried to shoot the strange machine, but either the Archangel or the target itself managed to spoil his aim. it was hard to aim while being forced to evade plasma bolts, bullet bursts and missile salvos at the same time. During his evasive maneuvers Rau failed to notice that Strike had equipped its Agni impulse cannon.

_C'mon, c'mon _Kira gritted his teeth trying to get a lock on the enemy. After a few moments the computer beeped, the weapon was locked on. With a press of the trigger Strike unleashed a massive beam which had more than enough power to take out the CGUE. Once more, the Mobile Suit's pilot demonstrated his skill by dodging a shot, Kira believed was sure to hit. Well, the shot did hit the target, but not where it was intended. CGUE's right arm vanished in the beam. The beam itself, impossible to be stopped by such an obstacle continued it's path toward the Heliopolis's wall and carved a perfectly round hole in it. Kira stared in horror, watching as the air escaped the colony trough the hole he'd just made. He had underestimated the weapon's power.

Rau used this chance to retreat trough the opening, just created by Strike. The Pulverizer was still firing, but it's accuracy decreased as the distance between them - increased. "This certainly turned out to be an interesting event." He brought up some of the images of the two machines. "A Mobile Suit possessing so much firepower and another unit the intelligence failed to notice."

"You bastard! Come back!" Daniel cried and pressed the triggers as hard as he could, but none of he shots even came close. The target soon went out of range and the lock was broken. "Coward." He panted and released the controls. The rage inside him still burned, but there was nothing to vent it on. There weren't any more enemies present and all remaining targets were supposed to be allies, firing at them would be a really bad move. So Daniel chose to suppress his anger and calm down.

"Muscle Trace linkup requested." The computer kept repeating the message.

"Shut up." Daniel leaned against the seat and closed his eyes. _I got to find a way to turn off that voice. _He made a note to himself. The wound on his forehead still throbbed, making his efforts to calm down a lot more difficult. He heard a loud hiss coming from outside. Cracking one eye open he noticed that the Archangel had landed. _What am I supposed to do now? _Strike leaned down and apparently picked everyone up, because after the Mobile Suit took off and headed toward the ship, none of his friends were on the ground. The damaged Zero also landed on the Archangel's hull. "Oh well, might as well go to that ship." He opened both eyes and began working with the controls. He still had a lot of training to do if he wanted to control this thing better. Unleashing another uncontrolled blow from the boosters, the Pulverizer shot up into the air and began a series of poorly coordinated movements in the Archangel's direction.

xxxxx

Strike slowly lowered it's hands, allowing everyone to get off. Murrue and everyone else felt relieved. At least they were safe for now. The enemy was gone and the battle was over. Shortly after they stepped on the ground they heard several people rushing towards them. Several surviving members of the Archangel's crew were approaching and all of them looked worried and relieved at the same time. "Lieutenant Ramius." Natarle Badgiruel, one responsible for Archangel's arrival, called. "Thank goodness you're alive!"

Murrue recognized the officer. "Ensign Badgiruel." Her voice also shared the joy about Natarle's safety. She replied to the salute and continued. "Good work with the Archangel. We were saved thanks to you." Her last words were muffled by the sound of Strike's cockpit opening. Soon after Kira exited the machine and grabbed the lift cable in order to reach the ground. Every member of the ship's crew gasped when they noticed how young the pilot was. More than that, this boy wasn't the one who was supposed to pilot the Strike.

"Hey, hey, what's going on? Isn't he just a kid?" Chief Murdoc voiced everyone's surprise. "Don't tell me that he's the one who was inside that thing."

Natarle also became confused when she watched Kira descending. "Lieutenant Ramius what's...?" Her voice trailed off, when someone else spoke from behind them.

"Well, now that's a surprise." Mu La Flaga, ace pilot who was also known as "Hawk of Endymion", approached them. Curiously observing the Mobile Suit. He came up to Murrue and Natarle and reported. "Earth Alliance's 7th Mobile Fleet. Lieutenant Mu La Flaga. Please to meet you." He said and saluted. After both women replied with their ranks and units he continued. "I'd like to request permission to land aboard this ship. Who's in charge here?"

"The captain and most of the crew members were caught in the explosion at the beginning of the attack." Natarle replied depressingly. "I was lucky to be in the shaft." Murrue took a sharp breath, she wasn't aware of this. Mu also was taken aback by the news.

"What now? ... Anyway, please grant me permission, Lieutenant Ramius. The shipt I was from was also shot down."

"Uh, sure. Permission granted." Murrue was still feeling uneasy by the fact that she was now supposed to be in charge. Then everyone's gaze turned towards Kira and his friends. "As you can see, he is a civilian." Murrue explained. "He happened to be near the factory when we were under attack. His name is Kira Yamato. Thanks to him we were able to fight off the GINN and protect the Gundam."

"He fought off a GINN?" Natarle asked incredulous. "This kid?"

"I escorted the original pilots for these machines. Anyone knows where they are?" Mu was concerned about them.

"They were meeting the captain when the explosion went off so..."

"I see." Mu said and approached Kira, who became slightly suspicious. The man stared at him for a while and the n asked. "Are you a Coordinator?" The strange question caught everyone off guard.

The situation became even more inflammable when Kira nodded agreement. "Yes." The nearby guards instantly aimed their weapons at the young boy. After all Coordinators were the enemy. However, Tolle instantly stood between them and his friend.

"What the hell are you doing? So what if he's a Coordinator? Kira isn't the enemy. Didn't you see what happened back there? What are ... you ..." Tolle stopped when he heard a distant roar approaching. Everyone else heard it too and looked outside in order to see what was going on.

Unleashing blue light from it's boosters, the Pulverizer was slowly approaching the open catapult. Everyone immediately took back a few steps, because the machine was approaching a bit awkwardly. It wasn't turned directly at the opening and was moving sort of sideways or rather diagonally. "What's that?" Natarle tried to outcry the noise.

"I forgot about this. Apparently they were researching a captured ZAFT prototype here. Don't worry it isn't piloted by a ZAFT pilot." Murrue explained holding her hand in front of her face, in order to avoid the dust.

Just like before, the machine touched down with a strong impact next to the Strike, Daniel still had problems piloting the Pulverizer. Few seconds later it knelt down, allowing the pilot to exit. Unlike Mobile Suits, Pulverizer didn't have the lift cable, so the pilot had to climb down by himself.

"Another kid?" Mu smiled, when he saw Daniel reach the ground and flopped down on the floor next to Pulverizer's knee. The boy was taking heavy breaths, exhausted by the effort to control the Muscle Tracer and trying to regain his strength. Sweat trickled down his forehead at one point they crossed the fresh wound and obtained a light red color. When the red drops continued their path they left red traces behind, painting most fo Daniel's face red. "Is he okay?" He quietly asked Murrue.

"He must be exhausted from piloting that thing." Murrue replied and went over to Daniel. The other children were already there and were glad that their friend was okay.

"I'm fine ... just need to ... catch my breath." Daniel assured them and took off his red shirt and wiped his face in it. Only after he took another look at the garment, he realized his mistake. _Ahh ... who cares. _He dropped the shirt on the ground. A couple of deep breaths and he stood up, just as Murrue and other officers reached him.

"Daniel, I'm glad to see that you managed to get here." Murrue smiled. Meanwhile Mu eyed the Pulverizer.

"Where did you get this one, kid?"

Daniel cleared his throat and began explaining. "My parents were working with it and ..."

xxxxx

Later, after Daniel had told his story to others and both Strike and Pulverizer were brought inside the hangar, the Alliance's soldiers began bringing in supplies. It was decided that the Archangel will leave Heliopolis and will try to reach friendly territory. Since this colony was supposed to be neutral, there were no Earth or ZAFT forces nearby. At least there shouldn't be any hostile or friendly ships around, but given the recent events, no one was sure about that anymore. Also, the attackers had to come from somewhere and this thought alone was enough to make everyone nervous.

While Murrue, Natarle and Mu were on the bridge, discussing about what to do next, the teenagers tried to get some rest in one of the rooms. They had to remain aboard since it was impossible to go back to the shelters. All of them were locked due to the increasing alert level. So they had no other place to go.

"Look at him, one moment and he's out like a light." Kuzzey noticed that Kira was sleeping. "Amazing how he can sleep in a situation like this."

"Well, he is tired. He had to do a lot of things and none of them were easy." Miriallia replied. For a moment no one said anything. "I wonder how Daniel is doing. I've never seen him like this. He seems to be knocked off balance." The girl mused. Daniel had left them few minutes ago, saying that he had to find a computer somewhere and take care of few things. Everyone had noticed that Daniel behaved a little different than usual. He tried to act as if nothing had happened and whenever someone wanted to sit down and talk with him in order to make him feel better, the boy quickly changed the topic or just left the room.

"I think he's trying to tell himself that everything is just a bad dream." Tolle gave his opinion. "You know ... If I don't think about it, then it will be nothing more than a bad thought ... That kind of thinking." Almost everyone gave him a questioning look, which he didn't notice. "So I presume that he tries to keep his mind busy in order not to think about it. That must be his way of dealing with problems."

"One thing still puzzles me," Kuzzey glanced at Kira, who was still sleeping. "How he was able to pilot that machine? I can understand how Kira managed to do it, but Daniel?" He looked at his friends, searching for an answer.

"What are you trying to say?" Sai couldn't quite understand what his friend meant by that.

Kuzzey scratched his head and replied. "Well, Kira rewrote the OS and that's how he was able to pilot the Mobile Suit, but Daniel is a Natural just like we are. So how did he managed to do that?"

"He wasn't piloting it." Sai answered after a moment's thought. "Well not like Kira was doing. You saw how unsteady and clumsy his machine's movements were. Just like Strike's, when we first saw it ... and besides, Naturals can't pilot those things so smoothly. Only Coordinators can."

"I knew that Kira was a Coordinator." Kuzzey admitted after a moment. "People, born with their genes modified. For them, flying a Mobile Suit is almost nothing. Also, they are stronger, smarter and simply put better than us." His voice became nervous after he said that. "All of ZAFT is like that ... Do you think Earth Alliance can win a war against people like that?" And once again the small room was filled with uneasy silence. No one was able to give a clear answer to Kuzzey's question.

The silence broke when Daniel came down the corridor and entered the room. Everyone noticed that he had managed to get a laptop, which he opened in front of him after he sat down on one of he beds. "Stupid security system." He uttered and glanced at his friends. "Hey, what's with the strange looks everyone?" He noticed the thoughtful expressions on everyone's face. "What happened?"

"Nothing, just talking about a couple of things." Tolle made himself look nonchalant and looked at Daniel's computer. "Anyway, what are you up to?"

"This? I just want to check out a couple of things." Daniel explained and inserted the disc, his father gave him into the computer. "I tried to find out more about the Pulverizer, but the information database is protected by a password. While I could try to hack it, it would be a lot easier to try an easier approach. Maybe this disc has a few things hidden inside."

Now almost everyone was interested and crowded around him, eager to glance at the information the disc contained. "By the way, how did you managed to pilot that machine?" Tolle asked while Daniel waited for the program to open the disc.

Daniel sighed, as if he was still tired from that task. "Well, you know that I'm interested in Mobile Suits, so I partially figured out which controls I had to use. However, even then the movements are rough, inaccurate and sort of ... delayed. I was lucky that I even managed to survive this far and ... There! It's open." Everyone focused their attention on the monitor. "Hmm ... nothing much. Only a general report and the Core Protocol program." Daniel felt disappointed when he saw the small amount of information.

Miriallia pointed at the folder ,Core Protocol. "What's this?"

"As far as I can tell it's some sort of advanced control program for the Pulverizer. My dad was unable to find out what it did, because they couldn't turn on the machine in the first place."

"Maybe it's the reason why your machine is so difficult to control? Maybe if you install this program, it will be a lot easier for the pilot?" Tolle suggested. Daniel gave him a scrutinizing look, considering his words, but then he slowly shook his head.

"I don't think so. The computer hasn't mentioned a thing about this program. And the machine is working perfectly, as far as I know. The only thing that it keeps asking me is to turn on the Muscle Trace system and I don't know what does it mean." He said and opened the general report folder. "Hmph. Nothing here either, just the Pulverizer's dimensions, height, weight..."

Tolle, who was sitting next to him suddenly noticed something. "Daniel, isn't there something wrong with this? It says here that the Pulverizer weighs only twenty two tons."

"You're right. Now this is strange." Daniel exclaimed when he noticed the small number. "If I'm correct the GINN weighs seventy something."

"What's going on?" Kira asked, making everyone startle, they didn't notice that Kira was awake. He was looking at them from the top bunk with a curious expression. "What are you doing?"

"Just trying to dig up some of the Pulverizer's secrets, that's all." Daniel ran over the rest of the report and closed it. There was nothing else that might help him. _It looks like I will have to try and crack the information database. _He thought grimly. "For now it looks like that machine is full of secrets."

Kira jumped down from the bunk. "What are you going to do with it anyway?"

"Well, since it was my dad's work, I guess that I will continue his work and try to find out what it contains." He closed the computer and placed it next to him. "Right now, when most programms are online and working, it will be a lot easier. By the way, how did you managed to pilot Strike so well?"

"I reprogrammed the OS. The one they were using was incomplete and was hard to use." Kira leaned against the wall. "However, I still consider that I was lucky. If the GINN's pilot wasn't so surprised by Strike's armor, I think he would have won."

Daniel stroke his chin. "Reprogrammed the OS, huh? Hmm, now that's a good idea. If I adjusted Pulverizer's OS, maybe I could control it better."

"Why would you do that?" Miriallia asked incredulously. "Do you intend to use it again?"

"Yes." Daniel replied, voice hard and serious. "I think that ZAFT might attack us again."

xxxxx

The situation aboard Vesalius was depressed. Despite the fact that they managed to retrieve the Earth Alliance's prototypes, the members of Le Creuset team were angered by the fact that they lost Rusty and Peter. Miguel managed to return after he abandoned his Mobile Suit and brought with him bad news. Not only they were unable to capture the last machine and left it in Earth Forces' possession. They were surprised by the existence of another, sixth unit, which was also in enemy hands.

Rau had returned a few minutes ago with a damaged Mobile Suit. This fact alone surprised Yzak, who always admired the enigmatic commander. He, along with his comrades, Dearka and Nicol, were in the waiting room observing the Mobile Suit hangar. "Naturals did this to the commander's unit? What was he doing? Flying with his eyes closed?" He stared at the damaged CGUE. "There's no way a bunch of Naturals could do that!" Dearka smirked at his friends statement and moved closer to the window.

"Miguel said that whoever was inside that last unit turned out to be quite skilled."

"Skilled?" Yzak snorted. "If Miguel says that a Natural is a skilled Mobile Suit pilot, then I wonder how he even managed to become one of this team. If he can't beat a lousy Natural then he shouldn't be a pilot in the first place. Besides, if that pilot got lucky and managed to disable Miguel's GINN, there's no way he could beat Le Creuset." Dearka considered that.

"Well, maybe that Natural was lucky? I mean born lucky." He shrugged and turned around to face his friend. "You know, one of those bastards, who can't do bad no matter how hard they try?"

"Maybe it was the other pilot." Nicol said. "After all the other pilot killed Peter and maybe they did that together. Besides, the second pilot could have turned out to be one of the original pilots for those things." Both, Yzak and Dearka shook their heads. It just didn't sound right. Even two Naturals, no matter how skilled, couldn't win against an ace-commander of ZAFT.

"I don't think so. The pilots were in the command center, which we managed to take out, by the way. And the intelligence data clearly stated the there were only five prototypes." Dearka twirled his helmet, he held in his hand. "And I'm sure, that none of the pilots survived that blast. If you saw how close we planted that explosive to the command center you would say the same thing." He stared them down with a challenging look. No one said anything. "Besides, you saw what kind of ... OS they were using." Yzak gave a contemptuous grin when he remembered the system he had to reconfigure.

Only Nichol remained serious. "What do you think will happen now?" Yzak shrugged his shoulders.

"Who cares? We've done our job."

Dearka glanced outside and noticed that the mechanics were doing something. "Something is happening. They are bringing out containers from the storage and ... what the hell ... D-equipment?" Everyone fixed their attention on the heavy weaponry the technicians were unloading. "What is the commander up to?"

"Maybe he wants to destroy the two machines we couldn't capture?"

"Destroy them with this kind of weaponry?" Dearka asked, incredulous. " In that case this is a fine example of a thing called overkill."

"I agree, Nicol." Yzak said from the couch he occupied. "Hunting Mobile Suits with D-equipment is definitely too much ... What is it?" He looked at Dearka, who laughed in a low voice.

"Maybe he wants to get revenge for the damage on his CGUE." Dearka's laughs became louder.

Nicole shook his head. "That doesn't sound like commander Le Creuset. He doesn't use excessive force." He paused for a while. "But in that case, the colony might get destroyed."

"And what can we do about it?"

"Yeah," Yzak added. "Besides, they deserve it for calling themselves neutral." They watched the GINNs, being equipped with the heavy armament and prepare for launch. Whoever they were going against was soon to find himself in unenviable position. However, they were surprised when Aegis suddenly left it's position and also prepared for launch. "What the hell is that fool up to?" Yzak clenched his fists.

xxxxx

"I won't do it!" Kira instantly rejected the thought. "I don't want to be involved in this war anymore. While what you said is true, that the world outside is at war. That's exactly why I'm here. I hate war and I don't want to fight! And yet you ask me to fight against them." Murrue sighed, she already had anticipated that the young boy would be against this, but the re was no other choice.

"I know ..."

"I'll fight." Daniel suddenly spoke and stepped forward, passing Tolle and Miriallia. "I'm not so good as he is, but if I stay out of the main fight, I can provide some long range support."

"You, you will?" Murrue stammered, while everyone else stared at him, caught off guard by Daniel's eagerness to fight. "Daniel, if you go out there, you might get killed and you know how hard it is to use those machines." But Daniel shook his head in denial.

"Ms. Ramius, if we get shot down, it won't matter where I am." He countered, logic undeniable. "I already know, that I'm no match for them in close combat. That's why I intend to stay near the ship and engage at long range, moreover, the Pulverizer only has ranged weapons as far as I can tell."

Kira looked at his friend, unable to believe to what he was hearing. "Daniel, do you really mean it?"

"Yes, I mean it." The black haired boy replied. "Face it Kira, if we don't do something, our survival will become more difficult."

Suddenly, the nearby intercom beeped. "Lieutenant Ramius, message from the bridge." Murrue went over to it and activated the comm-link.

"What is it?"

It turned out to be Mu. "We have incoming Mobile Suits. hurry up he and take command! You're the captain."

"Me?"

"I am a more experienced lieutenant, but I know nothing about this ship."

"Very well." Murrue sighed. "Then prepare the ship for take off. All hands, we are entering battle alert Level 1 now! You will be the CIC." She said and cut the transmission.

Meanwhile Kira was trying to make up his mind. _This is stupid! Because we are the only ones, who can fly those things they are pushing us into battle._ He glanced at Daniel. _He chose it by himself, even though he can barely move that thing. _Another voice in his mind said. _Will you let him go alone? Especially if you are a better pilot. _Knowing that he would hate every minute of it, Kira made his choice. "Fine, I'll do it."

xxxxx

Minutes later, both pilots prepared for launch. For this time the Strike was equipped with the Sword Stricker pack, which was focused on close combat. _At least I don't have to worry about damaging the colony. _Kira thought while inspecting the weapons. A few seconds later, his radio crackled and Daniel's voice came trough the comm-link.

"You alright there, Kira?"

"Yes, I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm ready to go, but don't count on me to pull some crazy stunts. I'm still learning how to pilot this thing."

"Going out in unfamiliar machine, you must be crazy." Kira said in a low voice, so that Daniel couldn't hear him. "Did you improved the OS?"

"No. I mean, I tried to do it, but this thing doesn't seem to have one." Daniel's voice sounded puzzled. "At least nothing, that helps in calibrating the movements or adjusting the performance. I think it's controlled by other means ... Don't worry," He assured. "I know how to move this thing, sort of, and it doesn't take too much skill to stay out of trouble and press down the trigger." Then another voice reached him and Daniel trough the radio.

"Strike, Pulverizer, get ready for launch." Natarle informed them with slight anxiety in her voice. "We have several enemy units closing in. They appear to be equipped with heavy weaponry, so be careful."

Both pilots replied and were soon propelled outside, by the catapults. The Archangel was already in the air and preparing to fire at the enemy targets, which were rapidly moving towards them. Kira didn't waste much time and moved to engage the GINN and, much to Kira's surprise, Aegis. _Is it really Athrun, who is piloting that Mobile Suit? _The boy gasped when he realized what he was up against.

Daniel, on the other side landed on the Archangel's hull and soon unleashed pairs of azure plasma bolts in the general direction of the four enemy targets. All of them missed, but Daniel didn't worry too much about that. The energy orbs, while more powerful than other beam weapons of similar size had limited range due to the dissipation, especially in the atmosphere. So the plasma charges were harmless by the time they reached the colony's surface.

"Aurol, Matthew, you two take care of that ship." Miguel ordered the two other pilots, both equipped with heavy missile launchers. His new GINN sported the Barrus heavy particle cannon. "Athrun, in return for tagging along, show us what you've got.

"Yeah." Atrun murmured, when Aegis's computer identified Strike.

The two Mobile Suits broke the formation and the GINN moved to engage the Strike, while Aegis remained behind. Miguel noticed the large anti-ship sword, his opponent brandished and decided that was a good idea to stay out of it's reach. One swing with that thing was enough to take out his machine, so he had to use his ranged weapons and destroy the bastard from a safe distance. It brought little changes to his plans because he already had decided to use the particle cannon as his main weapon. "Die! Damn you!" He cried and fired the cannon.

Kira startled and jerked the controls, throwing Strike out of the beam's way. The high powered beam struck one of the support cables, attached to the main shaft. A second later, the part of the cable was gone, destroyed by Miguel's weapon, and Kira watched it fall to the ground, leveling several buildings. _I have to take him out before he does any more damage._ Kira was forced to dodge another shot. _Damn! If I keep evading those beams, he will destroy the entire colony. _Kira's frown became deeper, when another building vanished under the beam. "I can't allow him to hit the colony! What should I do?"

The third beam didn't miss, it struck the small shield on Strike's left forearm instead, resulting in a bright explosion. "Did I get him?" Miguel hoped and barely managed to evade the Strike's huge sword when the Mobile Suit emerged from the explosion completely unharmed. He fired again, but once more the beam was stopped by the shield.

Meanwhile Daniel was dishing out a lot more damage than Archangel. At least regarding the damage on the support shaft. The ship was focusing it's efforts on the other GINN, while Daniel had to deal with the bastard, who stayed close to the central shaft, using it as a cover. "Just die already!" He growled and once again fired several times. Against other opponents, the ZAFT pilot's choice would be correct, because no one wanted to further damage the colony. However, this time, all this was pointless, because in Daniel's current mental state, he might as well hide behind a building full of innocent children and still would be shot at. The plasma bolts continued to bite more and more holes in the already weakened structure, as Daniel seemed to ignore anything else.

The GINN used the moment, when Pulverizer was once again adjusting it's stance, to fire off every missile it had. A total of ten small and four large missiles rushed toward the Archangel and the Pulverizer, leaving behind white contrails of smoke. One heavy and one small missile were destroyed when Daniel resumed firing. The remaining heavy missiles struck the colony resulting in spectacular explosions, when Archangel moved out of their way, almost shaking off the Pulverizer. Six smaller ones were destroyed by Archangel's CIWS, but three more broke trough and darted towards the Muscle Tracer. But then something happened. Two small covers, on front of the Pulverizer's core, popped open and detonated the missiles with tiny beams, triggering the detonation mechanism. The missiles exploded so close, that Daniel actually felt the shock wave from the blast and heard the tiny fragments harmlessly hitting the machine's body. _Automatic missile interception? _He risked a glance at the main display. _Cool._ He grinned and resumed his reckless fire. Finally he managed destroy the GINN, by interrupting another missile salvo. The freshly launched missile were destroyed so close to the Mobile Suit, that several fragments damaged the entire front of the GINN. Daniel used the opportunity to land several shots and was relieved to see the Mobile Suit explode.

Another series of explosions shook the colony, when Miguel failed to hit his target. That thing was mooving too fast for him to hit it. "Damn the bastard's fast. Athrun, Get around him." He cried, while trying to find an opening.

Athrun, who did nothing more than observed the battle until now, sounded agreement and gunned Aegis's thrusters. The red Mobile Suit went after the Strike, slowly catching up with it. Kira turned around and noticed the approaching target, the same unit he believed was piloted by his old friend. At the same time, Athrun was thinking the same. "Kira, is that you?" The Aegis blitzed past the Strike, drawing it's attention and giving Miguel a chance to attack.

"I got you now!" Miguel cried and fired. Kira barely dodged and responded by throwing the beam boomerang at the GINN. For a pilot like Miguel it required little effort to evade the thrown weapon, but what he failed to notice was that after finishing a wide arc, the boomerang came back and cleaved off the GINN's right leg at the knee. "What!?" Miguel exclaimed, taken by surprise. Kira gave him no chance to recover. With a hateful scream he charged in and chopped the Mobile Suit in half.

"Miguel!" Athrun cried, staring at the explosion, created by his friend's machine. The fireball slowly vanished and the only remains, Athrun could see, were parts of Migule's GINN falling down.

At the same time, thanks to Mu's efforts, Archangel's weapons shot down the last GINN, but the malfunction, caused by the severe damage launched the missiles in a wild pattern. Every single missile struck something, too bad, that something turned out to be the critical parts of the Heliopolis. The entire colony began to groan and tremble. Large parts detached from the support shaft and fell down. However, two Mobile Suits, Strike and Aegis, floated in air, facing each other. Their pilots barely aware of what happened around them.

By now, they had little doubts who was in the other Mobile Suit. All they could do was to look at the other machine, ignoring calls and demands from their superiors. No one was sure what to do next. After some time Kira was first to recover from the confusion and prepared the anti-ship sword for another strike. _Athrun, it can't be... _

Athrun recovered soon after him and both Mobile Suits charged at each other, but didn't make any attempt to attack. They slowed down and passed each other. "Kira, Kira Yamato." Athrun contacted the Strike. "It's really you."

"Athrun Zala." Kira gasped in recognition.

"Why? Why are you here?"

"What about you, why are you piloting that thing?" Kira couldn't answer that question, because he noticed a growing, black area behind Aegis. Then he realized that it was space he was looking at. The entire Heliopolis colony was falling to pieces. The damage it had suffered proved too much for it. Smaller parts like Mobile Suits were pulled outside immediately, while large objects, such as Archangel class battleships, followed a moment later. The last thing Kira saw before he passed out was a red Mobile Suit, known as Aegis. Piloted by Athrun Zala, his old friend.


	5. Painful secrets

On the Archangel's bridge, almost everyone shared a shocked expression. In a brief moment, the huge colony was destroyed, rendered to a large cluster of debris. "Destroyed ... just like that ..." Mu whispered, barely able to say something else. "Impossible..."

"What about Kira and Daniel? Are they alright?" Murrue clenched her fists and glanced at Natarle, who was trying to contact either Strike or Pulverizer, but no one answered. They began to fear the worst, until Daniel's voice came trough.

"...uck this stupid thing! Archangel, can you hear me?"

"Daniel? Is that you? Can you hear us?" Natarle quickly responded, fearing that they might lose him. "What's you status?" The relief on the other side was impossible to miss.

"Thank God, I finally contacted you. Yes, I'm alright, don't worry." Daniel made everyone let out a relieved sigh. "I had some problems with the radio."

"Can you make it back to the ship? Where's Strike? We can't reach Kira."

"I can see Strike from where I am. Don't know about Kira's situation though, but the Mobile Suit looks undamaged. I'll try to shake him up, maybe he has been knocked out." With that he cut the channel.

Mu squared his shoulders and looked at Murrue. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Those ZAFT ships probably are still somewhere nearby. The battle isn't over yet." She glanced at the radar operator. "What about those ships? Can you locate them?" The man shook his head, as he tried to get some answers.

"I'm afraid it's impossible. The debris are radiating heat and the sheer number of them are wrecking havoc on the sensors. Radar, thermal detection, everything is ineffective right now." Murrue frowned, when she heard the news.

"At least it's the same for them." Mu looked at the bright side. "So we shouldn't worry about being found ... At least as long as we stay here, among the debris." His smile narrowed a little when he though about the near future. "However, once we leave ... do you think that there will be a pursuit?" He scrutinized Murrue with an unsure look.

"Let's assume the worst. At least there will be far less surprises that way." Murrue decided. "Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of things we can do in case of an attack."

"Ain't that the truth. All we have is the Strike, that Pulverizer and my damaged Zero. Not much we can do with those ... The situation doesn't look so good." Mu sighed. He tried to come up with a workable solution to this problem. "What about if we make a run for it? In full speed. Could we get away from them?"

"I don't think so. They have a Nazca class battleship, you know how fast those ships are. I don't think that we will be able to escape." Murrue disagreed.

She noticed, that one of the machines was returning. The glowing lines one the body meant that it was the Pulverizer. "Lieutenant Ramius, Daniel says that Kira is fine and is heading to the ship." Natarle informed her.

"Well, we can always surrender to them." Mu suggested, watching the Muscle Tracer disappear in one of the open launch bays. He looked back at Murrue, who was glaring at him. "Well, it's a possibility." He shrugged and gave a sheepish smile.

"What? Who authorized such a thing?" Natarle demanded, holding the comm set to her ear. "I can't allow you to do something like that." She rised her eyes and noticed Murrue, who was looking at her from the captain's seat with an inquiring gaze. "Strike is approaching. And the pilot is bringing a life pod with him. He said, that he found it floating among the debris and now he wants to take it inside." She explained with clear discontent in her voice and left her seat after she switched on the main communications channel.

"What do you mean, you can't allow that?" Kira demanded, clearly surprised by the negative answer he received a few moments ago. His Mobile Suit was floating near Archangel, holding the recovered life pod in it's arms. "It is damaged and was floating around. And you want me to leave it behind? There are refugees onboard."

"Leave it." Natarle continued in her strict voice. "A rescue ship will soon arrive and take care of it. There is no place for them on the Archangel."

"It's allright. I give my permission." Murrue said tiredly and looked at the Ensign. "We don't have time to argue about something like this."

"Aye, Captain." Natarle admitted defeat and saluted. Afterwards she returned to her post and contacted Kira. "Strike, you are cleared to land." Murrue looked back at Mu and continued their previous conversation.

"I know, that our situation doesn't look so good, but I have no intention of surrendering. We will never give this ship, or Strike, to ZAFT. As for the Pulverizer, giving ZAFT back their prototype would allow them to field new units. So it would be best to keep it out of their hands for as long as possible. Anyway, we must return to the Atlantic Alliance Combat Command post as soon as possible."

"Captain, I suggest that we go to Artemis first." Natarle suddenly spoke.

"Aretmis? The Eurasian military fortress?"

"Yes. It's the closest allied position along our current route." Natarle explained while pointing at the map she'd called up on one of the displays earlier. The display showed their position and the nearby allied territories.

"But neither this ship or the two machines have an IFF transponder. Also, Archangel and Strike are top secret weapons of the Atlantic Federation." Murrue was cautious. Without the IFF there was a high chance that they might be mistaken for enemies and be shot at by their own allies.

"I know that. But the fact is that we are low on supplies. We didn't have much time before we were forced to launch the ship.". Natarle defended her opinion. "I also think that if we continue our present course and head for the Moon, there is a high possibility that the enemy will attack us."

"I know."

"I think Eurasia will understand our situation. We must avoid any engagements on our way to Artemis, take on supplies there, and then try to get in contact with our headquarters on the Moon. That's our best chance of survival, in my opinion."

"Artemis huh? I have a bad feeling about this." Mu sighed. Everyone knew what he meant by that. Atlantic Federation and Eurasian Federation weren't exactly the closest allies. In fact they were allies only in name. In reality, both nations waged a covert war between themselves where industrial espionage was only the tip of the iceberg. If it weren't for the PLANTs, Earth Alliance would probably fall apart.

Murrue shared the same thought, normally she would avoid Artemis, but Archangel's situation changed things. "But currently, it looks like that is our only option."

xxxxx

Several decks below the bridge, completely unaware of the fate being decided, Kira opened the hatch and left the seat, making his way outside. The life pod, he brought in with him was placed on the ground, in front of his Mobile Suit and a couple of mechanics were trying to get it open. He quietly observed their work and felt relieved when they at last opened the hatch. He didn't regret a thing when he saw the survivors leave the life pod one by one. He saved them and there wasn't anything wrong with that, no matter what the black haired Ensign said.

Something moved. Kira realized that it was his robot bird, he'd stuffed behind his shirt earlier. The bird was struggling to get free and finally it succeeded. "Wait, come back." Kira propelled himself after the fleeing bird, but he was unable to capture it. At the same time, the two mechanics were helping Flay out of the life pod. She heard Kira and was surprised to see him here.

"Ah. You're Sai's friend!" She called, making Kira gasp in surprise. His surprise increased when the girl pushed off from the life pod and slammed into him, forcing both of them to drift backwards.

"F-flay?" Kira stammered, when she threw her arms around him. "Is it really you? I had no idea that you were inside that life pod." Soon he realized that the girl was scared, frightened actually.

"What happened to Heliopolis?" She asked while looking in his eyes, searching for answers. "What happened? I-I was shopping, but then ... the alarms went off and I ran to the shelter." Flay let around a nervous look, noting the Mobile Suit next to them. "Is ... Is this a ZAFT ship? What will happen to us? What are we going to do? Why are you in a place like this?"

"This ship doesn't belong to ZAFT." Kira tried to calm her down and stop the torrent of questions. "This is Earth Alliance's ship." But Flay pointed at the Strike.

"It can't be. What is a Mobile Suit doing on Earth's ship then?"

"Don't worry, it also belongs to the Earth Alliance ... But thank goodness you're alright. Sai and Miriallia are here, too. Everything is going to be okay."

Meanwhile, a few meters further, Daniel was busy working with the Pulverizer's systems, however while typing on the keyboard, his mind was partially somewhere else. Only a few moments ago he'd realized that during the second battle he killed an enemy. Of course he understood, that he killed his opponent in the first battle also, but the second time was different. He wasn't desperately trying to survive, like he was doing the first time. No, this time Daniel went out to battle willingly. He made that choice on his own. _I went out to kill and I killed someone ... It wasn't an accident. I did that intentionally. _His fingers stopped, hovering over the keyboard, but he didn't seem to notice that. Daniel knew that if he entered a battle, he was bound to kill someone sooner or later. He wasn't stupid or naive, to actually believe that a war could be won without killing.

But that wasn't what he was concerned about. Killing was part of war. But the strangest thing, and one that scared him the most, was that he felt ... happy about it. He took the life of someone he didn't even know and he was happy. It was strange, he even felt his good mood returning. The more he thought about it, the happier he felt. _I killed one of those, who killed my parents. _He actually laughed. A short, amused laugh. However, he quickly recollected himself and returned to work.

"What's so funny?" He heard a voice from above which made him jump. Daniel looked up and saw one of the mechanics, looking back at him into the cockpit, he opened earlier. "Sorry kid, didn't mean to scare ya. By the way, the name is Kojiro Murdoch. I'm the Chief mechanic on this ship, and it looks like your piece of machinery will be in my care for now." Daniel blinked in surprise, unable to reply immediately.

"Uh, okay, thanks. Oh, and my name is Daniel Stokes. Nice to meet you." He said and climbed out of the cockpit.

"Listen, kid. About your machine." Murdoch leaned against the Pulverizer's head. "I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of spare parts for it, so Irecommend that you be careful when going out there. I and mine will try to fix any damage, but everything that gets shot off, stays shot off."

"I understand. So, you expect that there will be more battles ahead?"

"Of course there will. I might be only a mechanic, but I have seen enough to understand how things work. You see, we might be safe for now, but you can bet this piece of machinery that they will be back." He explained.

"That's bad." Daniel said more to himself than anyone else. He saw Kira and Flay leaving the hangar. "Anyway, what's the word about our next plan?"

Chief Murdoch shook his head. "Don't know. At least they haven't told us yet, but I'm sure that it will result in a lot of work for me." Quietly observing the growing crowd of civilians, Daniel nodded in agreement. "Well, I have lots of things to take care so see ya later, kid." The mechanic said and left him alone.

_Yeah. The fight has only just begun. ZAFT is bound to come back after the rest of us, so more battles are inevitable. _Daniel looked at the solid surface beneath his feet and took a deep breath. He knew what he would do when ZAFT will attack. He'd made his choice some time ago and Daniel was ready to stick to the choice. _I guess that means, that I should improve my skills with this thing. _He shrugged and once again entered the cockpit.

xxxxx

"Yes, sir ... That's correct. The Heliopolis colony was destroyed a few hours ago ... No, our agents haven't found any remains of the prototypes ... Yes, I believe that ZAFT is behind this. They probably found out about the projects and decided to launch an attack ... Yes, I understand, our agents will inform us if anything comes up ... Goodbye, Mr. Azrael." The man sighed as he put down the phone and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "So, the whole thing has taken an unexpected twist. The G-project has been compromised, just like the examination of the prototype unit." The man sighed again and opened one of the drawers under the desk. He pulled out a small glass and a bottle of vodka. "This day keeps getting better and better. Damned bastards!" He poured himself a drink and smirked. _At least the bottle isn't empty ... yet._ Putting down the bottle, he looked around.

A large, brightly lit office, with dark brown, wooden panels on the walls, at least two of them. The wall across the room, bristled with displays, allowing him to observe the entire facility trough the security cameras. Large, double doors to his left and a large, built-in bookshelf to his right. A few tables and a couch occupied the middle of the room, while his desk was near the fourth wall behind him.

With a fluid swing, the man slammed down the shot of the crystalline liquid, wincing when he felt the strong kick of the drink in his throat. He shook his head and re-filled the glass, repeating the process a few more times. Afterwards, he once again opened the drawer and took out a small plate with pickles. A little something to soften up the vodka's taste in his mouth. _Ah, that's better. _He felt the warm feeling engulfing him and calmed down. _Now, let's see if we can find a way out of this mess._

Suddenly, his musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Oh, for crying out loud, who the hell is that ... Enter!" He said, while slowly putting away the "drinking equipment".

A young scientist barged in carrying a few files with him. The young man's face was pale from shock or fear, maybe both. "Mr. Nodokov, sir. We have a problem." He fell silent when the man he'd addressed as Viktor held up his hand demanding silence.

"What's this you're talking about? And before you start your usual rant, know that I'm in a very bad mood."

The scientist put down the stack of files on the desk and took a deep breath. He knew that if the person on the other side of the desk was in a bad mood, he should choose his words carefully. He looked at his superior. The man had short, dark brown hair, trimmed in the usual military style haircut. Few, already greying hair were sure marks of the difficult tasks Viktor had to face every day. Viktor's eyes had a lot in common with his hair, they were also drown, but instead of becoming grey, they obtained a tired look, that made everyone to think that this man was harmless. For many that was their last thought. Colonel Viktor Vladimirovich Nodokov was a dangerous man. The scientist tried to remember that, when he considered his words.

"Yes, uh, it's about the BCPU project. Well, everything is going according to schedule, and we have made several impressive achievements." Nodokov said nothing, it was a sign that he could continue. "However, some of the scientists, including myself, are a little worried about the increasing aggression of the samples. They are becoming harder to control." He didn't notice Viktor's exasperating sigh and kept talking. Only when he noticed that Viktor was resting his head in his plam, as if listening to something extremely boring and trying not to fall asleep, the scientist stopped. "What's wrong sir?"

"I already told you, if the BCPUs or samples, as you keep calling them, start to cause problems just assign a few more guards." Viktor said in a tired voice, that barely hid the anger.

"Yes, but the thing is ... well ... sir ... About this whole project, I'm thinking ... aren't we going too far with it?" The young scientist stammered, his voice trembling and nervous. He realized that right now he was going trough a minefield, a very concentrated minefield. One tiny, little step off the safe path or a wrong choice and it was all over. He had to be careful about what he was going to say. It didn't help any, when Viktor endowed him with a cold look. "Mr. Nodokov, I know that we are fighting a war, but ... does it have to go so far? ... I mean, what we are doing is ... wrong. It's too much ... forcing children to go trough such things ... They're turned into ... weapons. Can't we ..."

"What? Can't we all just get along?" Viktor forced him to fall silent. Viktor's voice was slow and calm, he wasn't shouting or threatening, he didn't have to. Everyone, who heard Viktor's voice immediately noticed something strange. It was impossible to identify it. It wasn't a tone or the sound of the voice, no one could tell what exactly it was, but everyone could hear it. Power, menace, determination, authority, all of it was there, present, yet unspoken. Serving as a background or medium for his words. "Is that what you meant to say?" He slowly stood up from his chair, while gesturing at one on the other side of the desk at the same time. The scientist swallowed hard and sat down.

"Let me tell you something." Viktor began. He flicked some nonexistent dust from his uniform. He wasn't wearing the usual white uniform of Earth Alliance's army, his uniform was black with red splotches, resembling bloodstains. Viktor leaned against the desk. "You know who you are working for, Dr. Praton. You know what kind of a job Azrael wants us to do for him. And while I have my doubts about his BCPU project. I agree with him on one thing. In our job, heart is just a muscle, a natural device for maintaining the circulation of blood. Remember that ... We're fighting a war and there is no place for ethics or conscience on the battlefield. We're fighting against a foe who is superior in every way. So, in order to defeat them, we must create weapons, able to fight Coordinators on their terms and beat them. And if that means sacrificing our humanity to achieve that, then I'm willing to take that step." He went around the desk and stood in front of the scientist, holding his hand on the handgun holster at his waist. "Now, what do you say?"

"I understand, but ..."

"Land-mine." Viktor said and pulled out his gun. The scientist barely managed to notice it, before the shot went off and the bullet tore off the back of his head in a cloud of blood and bits of brain. The lifeless body fell to the ground along with the chair. Viktor holstered his weapon and shook his head contemptuously. Then, he activated the intercom in his desk. "Send a guard to remove Dr. Praton from my office." Afterwards, his gaze fell on the stack of files. A wide smile crossed his face. Maybe Muruta Azrael was satisfied with his BCPU project, and while Viktor agreed with the creation of enhanced pilots, he also had his own project. _Those damned Coordinators will be scared to set foot on Earth. _He thought as he read the label on the first file 'Project Titan'.

xxxxx

"So, what do you think will happen now?" Kuzzey broke the silence that reigned in the cabin they occupied. Everyone else shrugged bewilderedly.

"I don't know. Probably Ms. Ramius will try to get us to safety." Sai was first to answer. While he had no idea what Ramius was up to, that seemed like a logical choice. But by saying something, anything at all, he was trying to calm Flay down. The girl was sitting close next to him and she still was a little nervous about the whole experience. "We must be going somewhere right now." He drew attention to the low and distand rumble of the ship's engines. "I wonder if ZAFT is around." He murmured to no one in particular. However, Tolle heard that.

"I think they are. They're probably after this ship and those two machines. I bet they are chasing us right now."

Sai frowned, when he heard that. Last thing everyone else needed right now, was something else to worry about. _Damn you! Don't say something like that. _

"What? ZAFT might be after us?" Flay was startled. "Then being on this ship is even more dangerous!"

"Would you prefer being in a damaged life pod?" Miriallia asked.

"Not really, but ..." Flay moved even closer to Sai and found herself strapped for words.

"Kira Yamato." Someone interrupted their conversation. A few moments later it turned out to be Mu. "There you are, Ive been looking for you." He entered the cabin.

"What is it?" Kira wondered what this man wanted from him.

"Sergeant Murdoch is angry. There isn't enough manpower, so he asked me to tell you to take care of your own Mobile Suit." Mu explained, drawing surprised looks from everyone, especially Kira.

"My machine? What do you mean?"

"Exactly that. Right now, you are the only one who can pilot it."

"Wait. I'm not a soldier. Sure, I piloted it twice, but only because there was no other choice."

Mu shook his head, slightly annoyed. "Will those going to be your last words, when the next battle begins?" He asked with a serious look in his face. "Right now, you, I and that boy Daniel are the only ones who can protect this ship."

"Daniel? He won't fight, because he..."

"Daniel agreed as soon as I asked him." Mu cut him off. "Listen, Kira, I know that you don't want to, but you must realize that you have the power to do it. Just do what you can." He turned around to leave. "Besides, we have neither choice or time."

"Oh, by the way. Where is this ship heading?" Sai intervened before Mu could leave.

"Eurasian military fortress Artemis ... It would be nice if we managed to get there smoothly." Mu said and left them.

"Hey, Kira!" Tolle called, when Kira abruptly left the room without saying anything.

"What was that all about?" Flay was clueless about the whole situation. "Kira ... That ... And who is Daniel?"

Sai took a deep breath and explained. "Remember, you said that a Mobile Suit brought your life pod in? Well, the pilot was Kira." Flay couldn't believe her ears.

"That boy? How can he pilot a Mobile Suit?"

"Because Kira is a Coordinator." Kuzzey said and everyone gave him a sharp look, which forced him to look away.

"Yes, Kira is a Coordinator. But he is not with ZAFT." Sai instantly added and everyone gave nods of agreement. "As for Daniel, he is my friend, I believe I told you about him once. He is the pilot of the second machine in the hangar."

"Another pilot? Is he also a Coordinator?" Flay immediately asked, curious about the other boy.

"No, he is not. Daniel is a Natural." Sai frowned, a bit surprised with the faint hostility he heard in girl's voice.

xxxxx

Aboard Vesalius, Rau Le Creuset wasn't having a good time. Because of the destruction of Heliopolis, things became difficult. The Supreme Council will want to hear an explanation about his actions. But Rau was sure, that once he told them about the G-project, everything would be forgotten. _It's always like this, give them something nice and they will forgive everything. Hell, they might even start to accuse Orb for developing weapons for Earth Alliance forces ... Wonderful, if only more problems could be solved this easily. _He scanned over the technical reports about the four captured units, before calling up the few files regarding his brief encounter with the Pulverizer.

"I wonder who you are, my unknown friend." He said, while examining the images his Mobile Suit had recorded. Rau was smart enough to realize that this machine had absolutely nothing to do with the GAT-X series. The design was too strange for a Mobile Suit. After some thought, Rau came to a conclusion - the Pulverizer wasn't designed or built by Earth Alliance. _But if they didn't build it, then who did? Who else has the technology to build Mobile Suits? _Almost instantly, he considered that Orb might be behind this. For a moment this answer seemed plausible. Why not start a project of their own, while helping Earth Alliance? Why not build a Mobile Suit of their own? Several things did fall in place. Orb was trying to remain neutral, but needed a strong enough force to remain neutral. Copying some of the results from the G-project for their own benefit was a smart choice. More than that, Rau's contacts had informed him that Orb indeed had a Mobile Suit program, codenamed 'Astray'. However, once again everything fall apart. The same contacts affirmed that the production of the prototype Mobile Suit had begun only a few weeks ago ... in , those machines were supposed to have an appearance similar to the G-weapons. And once again, a quick glance at the images was enough to disprove this theory.

Slightly pettish, he closed the program and began writing his report about Heliopolis. _I need more information about this, in order to find out who built that thing. _

The intercom suddenly chimed and a voice came trough. "Athrun Zala reporting."

"Come in." Rau said and continued to write his report. The door opened and Athrun came inside, wearing his ZAFT elite uniform. "The destruction of Heliopolis has caused quite a predicament. That's why our conversation was delayed." He swiveled in his chair in order to see Athrun, who was still standing next to the door.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry for the last battle." Athrun immediately replied.

"I have no intention of punishing you, but I'd like to hear your story. Since that behavior was very unlike you, Athrun." He watched, the young pilot frown. Apparently he'd struck a sensitive point. "You were beside that machine when it was activated, right?"

"I apologize. Due to an unexpected incident, I was in shock and was unable to report back. The one, who is piloting the fifth unit is Kira Yamato. A schoolmate and a friend of mine from my childhood days on the Moon ... I never imagined, that I'd meet him in a place like that. I wanted to make sure."

"I see. It looks like war is full of irony." Rau sighed and stood up from his chair. "It's no wonder that you were shocked. He was a good friend of yours, right?" Athrun nodded. "I understand. If that's the case, I'm going to remove you from the next assault. You won't be able to fight against an enemy like that." He explained, when Athrun arched his eyebrows in surprise. "And I don't want to make you do such a thing either."

"No. Commander, I..." Athrun began to object, but Rau interrupted him.

"Despite that he is your old friend, if he's become our enemy, we have to shoot him down. I hope you understand that."

However, Athrun couldn't accept that. He was sure, that Kira wouldn't make such a choice by himself, apparently he was being used by someone. Atheun decided to let the commander know about his thoughts. "Commander, I think that he is being used by Naturals ... He's is smart, but he also is good-natured and a little air-headed, so he might be unaware that he is being used ... If I could talk to him, I believe that I could bring him round. He's a Coordinator after all, Kira is sure to understand what we are fighting for." His voice became slightly distraught as Rau observed him and probably made his choice.

"I understand your feelings ... But ... what if he doesn't listen?"

The question hung in the air and Athrun couldn't answer. Although he knew the answer, he found it very hard to say it out loud. Finally he took a deep breath. "If it comes to that ... Then I'll shoot him down."

xxxxx

At that time, the person, Athrun had promised to persuade or kill, was standing in the hangar in front of the Strike. For a casual observer, he looked like a boy who was admiring the huge machine, but if one were to take a closer look at him, he would notice that it was only the boy's body that stood there, while his mind went trough series of dilemmas. He couldn't make up his mind about what to do. One one hand, he disliked war and fighting, thats why his family moved to Heliopolis. And if he piloted the Strike again he would be doing exactly what he hated. On the other hand, he was one of the few who could protect this ship and everyone aboard. Bailing out now would mean that he would leave his friends, and himself, defenseless. And letting others come to harm, was another thing he disliked. _Now, they are telling me that this is my machine even though I piloted it only a few times. Just because I can pilot a Mobile Suit, doesn't mean that I can fight a war. _Kira was so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to notice someone standing next to him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Daniel tapped Kira on the shoulder and made him jump in surprise. "Oh, sorry. You were thinking about something, weren't you?" Kira shook his head in order to get rid of the thoughts and nodded agreement.

"Yeah, I was thinking ... about lot of things."

"Like what? Maybe I can help."

"It's mostly about the current situation, you know, Heliopolis and all this." He glanced at his friend and noticed that Daniel seemed to be in a better mood. "I don't know what to do."

Daniel gave him a concerned look. "Let me guess, you don't want to fight, but you don't want to leave our friends alone, right?" The expression on Kira's face was all the answer he needed. "You're pretty easy to read ... Anyway, there is no way you can achieve both, so you'll have to make a choice."

"I know that, but ..."

"It's hard, right? Well, no one said that making tough decisions is easy. And don't look at someone else to tell you what to do, because you can't rely on others to make choices for you." Daniel said, voice serious. Then he noticed that Kira had become even more depressed, so he tried to cheer him up. "Listen, Kira, you did this before and you did great. And while it sounds as if I'm trying to tell you what to do, know that you don't have to kill them if you hate fighting. Winning a fight doesn't always have to end up with you opponent lying on the ground with every bone in his body broken. Sometimes, just making him to withdraw is enough."

"It sounds as if you have already made your choice." Kira said. His friend looked at the Mobile Suit in front of them and answered in a quiet voice.

"That's right, it was a very simple choice."

"Why?"

"Well, you are my friend so I will tell you." Daniel replied, but kept looking straight, not wanting to look in Kira's eyes. He didn't want to see Kira's face, when he realized why Daniel was so eager to fight. "It's about revenge. My parents died because of people like them. You know, Coordinators. If it weren't for them, mom and dad would be still alive." He looked at Kira and saw what he expected, surprise, shock and disbelief. "Yes, I'm going out there to get my vengeance. And while I know that I don't have a chance of beating any of them with my current skills, I'll be damned if I let them kill me without a fight."

Hearing his friend talk like that made Kira more than uncomfortable. It took him a while to muster enough courage to speak. "Daniel, don't misunderstand me, but Coordinators aren't responsible your parents' deaths. It was an accident, so blaming them seems a bit illogical to me." He immediately stopped talking when Daniel glared at him.

"Don't tell me who to blame." Daniel warned him in an angry voice. "My parents died in front of me, because some bastard decided to attack a neutral colony. I don't care if they aren't directly responsible for it, the fact is, they attacked us and they will do so again, but this time I will be ready for them. I won't hide behind anyone's back. I will go out there and make them pay."

"Make them pay?" Kira echoed incredulously. He knew that Daniel was a mess right now, but after hearing something like this, he just couldn't remain silent. "You're going to blame every single Coordinator for that? Do you realize what you are saying?" Daniel clenched his fists as he listened to his friend. Kira didn't know how it felt, he just kept on talking about how it was wrong to blame all Coordinators for the death of his parents and while he agreed that it was true, to some extent, Daniel couldn't let it go like that. Not now.

"Shut up!" He moved closer, interrupting Kira in mid-sentence. "I already told you, that it's not your business who I blame for what happened to me. You don't see me discussing whether you should fight or not, so stop telling me what to do! I'll fight for what I want, understand? And I start to wonder why are you defending Coordinators so much. You sound like one of those Coordinator supporters, that kept pestering people back home. So I advise you to cut it out, before you really piss me off." He admonished harshly and, before Kira could say anything else, he left. Kira decided to drop the subject, because Daniel was too edgy to listen to others right now.

xxxxx

"Large heat source detected. Likely the engine of a battleship." For everyone on the bridge, these words carried a slight tone of doom. Their escape plan had failed and now was time to think of something else. However, that something else looked more like the choice of battle strategy, than an escape plan.

"Next to us? Heading in the same direction." Mu tried to get more information about the enemy ship.

"Have they found us?" Murrue asked, but Natarle shook her head in denial.

"I don't think so, they're pretty far. They probably haven't noticed us yet."

Meanwhile, the radar operator had gathered more information about the other ship. "It's a Nazca class cruiser. It is heading past our ship."

"So they will probably try to block our path, by going in front of us." Mu came to a conclusion, his mind was already busy, trying to come up with a plan of some sort, any plan at all.

Natarle was equally trying to come up with a solution. _Laurasia and Nazca class each can hold six Mobile Suits. _Natarle blinked in surprise and confusion. Why did this fact surfaced in her mind? Without realizing, she began calculating. _That's twelve, minus five prototypes, minus those four GINNs that were destroyed inside Heliopolis_. She glanced at Mu. _That's right, Lieutenant also mentioned that he destroyed one. That leaves only three Mobile Suits on both ships, not including the prototypes.__They will either use those three remaining Mobile Suits and both ships or a single ship with all captured prototypes and two Mobile Suits, but Coordinators aren't so careless to rely entirely on prototypes. It means that the Laurasia class must be somewhere nearby. _"What about the second ship? Where is it?" She asked the radar operator.

"Please wait." The man checked the scanner. "Got something, from the rear of the ship. Heat source approaching, distance 300."

"This doesn't look good. At this rate we will be caught be the Laurasia class, or, if we use our engine to escape, the Nazca class will catch us." Mu nervously tapped on the seat's arm. "Hey, show me the data on the two ships and the map of the area."

"You have a plan?"

Mu turned around and gave an assuring smile. "That's what I'm going to think of right now."

xxxxx

Kira slowly made his way down the hallway, occupied by the thoughts in his head. The ship had entered Level 1 battle alert and everyone was preparing for battle. Kira still had some doubts about his part in the whole situation, but he had partially made up his mind. _I'm not a soldier, I don't have to fight this entire war. And this is an emergency. All I have to do is to pilot the Strike until this ship reaches safety. Then, we will go home. _

"Kira!" He heard a familiar voice calling him. Kira looked up and saw his friends moving towards him, accompanied by one of the bridge crew. All four of them wore uniforms, something that came as a big surprise to Kira.

"Tolle,everyone." He stammered, thinking that he was probably seeing things. "What's up with the outfit?"

"We thought that we should help out with the ship's jobs, so we volunteered."

"They said, that we have to wear uniforms, if we want to be on the bridge." Kuzzey added.

"Yeah, but ZAFT uniforms look much cooler." Tolle said. "Besides, we don't even have any ranks so we look dumb." He noticed the confused look on Kira's face and explained. "We decided to volunteer because you and Daniel are the ones always protecting us. We can't let you two fight every time without doing anything ourselves."

"Even in this kind of a situation we want to do anything that might help even a little." Miriallia continued.

"Alright, let's go, young ones." The officer pushed them. "Oh and if you're going to sortie again, make sure that you wear your pilot's suit." The man said and left along with everyone else. Kira tried to say something, but no words came out. _If everyone is trying to help, then I can't fail them. _He stood there, watching his friends as they left, in order to help any way they could.

xxxxx

Few moments later, Kira found the changing room. it took him some time to found it, since he was still unfamiliar with the ship's layout. The inside of the ship was much larger than might seem from outside. Of course it wasn't exactly a maze of corridors, but it was easy to get lost in them. "There it is." Kira sighed in relief and opened the door. "Daniel?" He froze on the doorstep, when he realized that his friend was inside. Daniel was already getting dressed. He had chosen a white and blue suit and was currently busy with the suit's jacket. Upon hearing Kira's voice he also froze and turned.

"So, you made up your mind." He said. Daniel's voice informed Kira that there was a ceasefire between them. In fact, Kira noticed that Daniel sounded a bit worried.

"Yes, I did." Kira replied and entered the room, he chose not to talk about what happened in the hangar. He opened one of the lockers and pulled out another suit. This one was also a blue and white version, only of lighter shade. "You sound nervous."

"I am." Daniel nodded and took a deep breath, in order to calm down. He was glad, that Kira didn't mention their previous conversation. "We're going out in actual battle ... Don't tell me that you're not afraid." Kira didn't answer immediately, because all this time his mind was full of something else, but now, when Daniel asked him, he felt it too. A cold, empty feeling in his gut, growing larger, as he thought about it.

"I am." He admitted and continued to put on the suit. "In some ways, the anticipation reminds me of time before the school exams." Daniel managed a stiffle laugh. "It's like that saying, waiting is the hardest part. Don't worry, we'll be alright." Kira asured and closed the suit's collar.

At the same time, the doors opened again and Mu stepped in. "There you two are." He glanced at Kira. "So, you finally have the motivation to wear that suit."

"You said it before, didn't you?" He paused to pick up the helmet. "We are the only ones, who can protect this ship. I don't want tp fight, but I want to protect this ship. All my friends are on it. Besides," Kira jerked his head towards Daniel. "he is also fighting to protect everyone."

"We're the same, there isn't anyone who fights without a reason." Mu's face suddenly became serious. "If we don't fight, we can't protect, therefore, we fight." He observed the two boys in front of him, both took his words to heart. And he could almost see their resolve strengthening. "Alright then, I'll explain the plan."

xxxxx

"Remember what I said and everything should work just fine." Mu said, when they entered the hangar a few minutes later. Kira and Daniel followed closely behind him. "Anyway, all you two have to think about is to protect this ship and yourselves. I'll take care of the rest." He reminded them to be careful. They soon reached Lieutenant's repaired Zero, a mechanic was already waiting. "Well, kids, good luck." Mu tapped them both on the shoulder.

"You too." Kira replied as Mu disappeared inside the cockpit. Afterwards, he glanced at Daniel. "Well, let's go." Daniel, whose face was pale didn't say anything, he just nodded. Both pilots began moving towards their respective machines. While he was floating towards the Strike, Kira remembered about the red Mobile Suit he saw earlier today. He also remembered that Athrun was the one, who was piloting it. _Athrun, will you come again? ... Will you come again, to destroy this ship?_ He reached his Mobile Suit and entered the cockpit, meanwhile Mu's Zero was moved inside the catapult compartment. Seconds later, he heard the Mobile Armor being launched. Almost immediately, the large gantry began transporting Strike and Pulverizer to the catapults._Lieutenant will attack the ship in front of us, while Daniel and I will protect the ship from the enemy behind. _Kira recalled the plan they discussed earlier. _I wonder if this will work._

"Kira, Daniel!" Miriallia's voice interrupted his thoughts. Both boys, each inside their own machine, watched at the comm screen with clear surprise evident in their faces.

"Miriallia!"

"What are you doing there?" Daniel also voiced his surprise.

The girl smiled and replied with a barely hidden pride in her voice. "From now on, I'm the battle controller for the Mobile Suit, Mobile Armor and Muscle Tracer. Glad to work with you two."

"It should be 'Pleased to work with you two.'" Someone admonished from behind her.

Both machines were inside the catapults now, and the large airlock sealed them off from the hangar. It wasn't long, before several hatches opened and Aile Striker pack's components were attached to the Mobile Suit. In Pulverizer's case this procedure wasn't necessary, because all weapons were already attached to the Muscle Tracer. "Strike's equipment will be the Aile Stricker. When the Archangel has blasted off, the enemy will come in no time." Natarle informed them. "Understood?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

With a slight tremble, the ship began moving in full speed, charging toward the Nazca class, after firing the Lohengrin positron cannons. The reddish beams streaked across the space, eliminating any debris that crossed their path. At one point they passed Mu's Mobile Armor that was silently flying toward it's target, to attempt a sneak attack. It wasn't a wonder that the Archangel was immediately picked up by both enemy ships. The Nazca class ship evaded the attack and launched a single Mobile Suit, while the second battleship launched three. All four of them were the stolen prototypes, piloted by the ones, who stole them.

Kira exhaled when he heard Miriallia's order to launch. _Well, here goes. Whatever happens, I must protect this ship. _"Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam, launching."

In the other launch bay, Daniel did the same. "Daniel Stokes, Pulverizer, going out." This was the first time he felt the force of the catapult push him into the seat. One moment he was inside the ship and a second later, Daniel found himself outside in the cold void. He immediately began working the controls, trying to reach the spot on Archangel's hull. As before, he decided to provide long range fire. However, once again the computer demanded to activate the Muscle Tracing system. Daniel threw an indecisive glance at the button on the panel in front of him. _Aww, to hell with it! _He made up his mind and pushed the button.

Almost immediately, he felt something come out from the opening in the back of the seat and press strongly against his back. A long, metallic plate, about 15 centimeters wide, pressed against his backbone in it's entire length. Furthermore, more restraints, also made from some strange metal, came out from the plate and secured the plate tightly against his back, by locking themselves around his chest and abdomen. However, this was only the beginning, as soon as the new pair of restraint were locked, dozens of microscopic needles shot out from the plate. Piercing the suit and it's backpack, like they weren't there, the needles burrowed deep into Daniel's spinal cord. Daniel let out a painful scream, it felt like several candescent nails were driven into his back.

"Muscle Trace linkup established. Impulse tracing initiated." A computerized voice announced with a slight note of satisfaction.


	6. Friends on the battlefield

Daniel's scream, mixed with pain and surprise, made Miriallia wince. The girl quickly turned down the volume on her headphones to prevent her from going deaf. Then she turned to the problem at hand, finding out what happened to Daniel. "Daniel, what's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?" Sai threw a concerned look toward her, he had also heard Daniel's voice.

"What happened?" He quietly asked, while keeping an eye on his tasks. As far as he could tell, the Pulverizer was fine. The signal form his machine was still coming in without any change.

"I don't know." Miriallia shrugged. "He's not responding, but he is certainly alive." She once again tried to get a response from Daniel, but to no avail, all her attempts went unanswered.

"What happened?" Natarle asked from behind them having overheard Sai's and Miriallia's conversation. "We haven't even located the enemy Mobile Suits yet."

"It's Daniel, I think something happened to him." Miriallia explained in a worried voice. At the same time, she was slowly turning the volume back up. _I think I can hear something. _After she rised the volume a bit more, she heard heavy, irregular breaths as if the person on the other side was scared or dead tired.

Natarle noticed the focused look on the girl's face and deduced that she had found out something. "What happened? Can you hear him?" A light nod met that question.

"I can hear him breathing … but it sounds like Daniel is exhausted or scared." Miriallia continued. "Daniel, can you hear me? … What happened to you?" She asked slowly and clearly, trying not to sound worried.

"Incoming targets!" The radar operator suddenly spoke. "They're X-numbers! Duel, Buster and Blitz!" The message washed across the bridge, leaving a sense of chill in the air, as everyone tried to digest what they just heard.

"They're throwing in all the G's they stole?" Murrue breathed, equally shocked by the unexpected event. She glanced around noting the unnerved look everyone shared and couldn't help feeling the same. Fighting against the brand new Mobile Suits they created wasn't something Murrue wanted to do while being outnumbered. However, they didn't have a choice.

xxxxx

Kira, who was heading toward the Vesalius didn't notice Daniel's scream because another thing caught his attention. Strike's radar picked up a single Mobile Suit that was approaching from ZAFT's ship. _This is it. One unit. _Kira thought grimly, as he prepared for battle. _Just bide your time. You don't have to kill him. _He reminded to himself. The thought made him feel a bit better. However, the short moment of relative relief was broken when Kira realized who the enemy was. He instantly recognized the red Mobile Suit. "Aegis … it must be Athrun."

Inside Aegis's cockpit, Athrun experienced the same feeling. Unlike Kira, he knew that he would run into him, but he didn't expect that it would be so soon after the launch. "Kira …" He sighed, when the computer identified the opponent. Athrun recalled the promise he gave to Rau and whole-heartedly hoped that he wouldn't have to kill Kira. Kira was his friend after all and friends didn't kill friends. Both machines closed in on each other. Both were piloted by pilots, who didn't want to fight each other, but were forced to do so because of the circumstances. At the same time, both Mobile Suits drew their weapons, but neither of them struck as they passed each other well in the reach. None of the pilots was able to attack.

"Kira!" Athrun's voice came trough the radio.

"Athrun."

"Kira stop this. Put down your weapon!" Athrun tried to reason with him. "We don't have to fight. You're a Coordinator. You're one of us." He continued, while both machines continued to circle each other. "Why are you fighting against us?" Kira tightened his grip on the controls. He couldn't answer that question.

xxxxx

For the Archangel things were less peaceful. The enemy was more focused on shooting than talking. Despite the missile salvos, Buster, Duel and Blitz had managed to reach the range where they could fire back. Even when Valiants and CIWS were brought to bear along with an occasional blast from the Gotfried cannons, the three ZAFT pilots continued their assault. Skillfully shooting down the missiles and evading the railgun rounds, bullets and beams, they fired back at every chance they got.

They were so busy with the fighting that they failed to notice a single machine some distance away from the ship. Continuing it's course, still unchanged after Daniel activated the Muscle Tracing system, the Pulverizer was moving further and further away from the battle. It's pilot didn't respond to Miriallia's frantic calls or even Natarle's demands.

It wasn't cowardice that prevented Daniel from answering. Truth be told, he was more than eager to reply, but first he had to familiarize himself with the strange, tingling feeling in his entire body. Finally, the young pilot placed his hands on the controls, took a deep breath and slowly moved them. _So that's what this hellish contraption does. _Daniel thought when he saw the Pulverizer's response. After a few moments, the Muscle Tracer turned around, gunned the boosters and proceeded to help the ship. It's pilot fighting the urge to get the needles out of his back.

xxxxx

Confused by his friend's words, Kira didn't take any decisive action. He couldn't work up the courage to fire at Aegis. Fortunately Athrun seemed to have the same problem. As of now, their battle had reached a stalemate.

Still trying to figure out what to do, he noticed the Archangel. The white ship was under attack from two other machines, but the third one had disappeared. The Pulverizer's absence was also unpleasant. He threw another glance at the red Mobile Suit. _I can't fight him. _Kira thought and turned around to go help Archangel, but things weren't so easy.

Almost immediately Aegis was in front of him, blocking his path. "Stop this Kira!" Athrun said, while trying to prevent his old friend from returning to the ship. "Why are you with the Earth Alliance? Why are you siding with Naturals?" He demanded answers.

"I'm not with the Earth Forces!" Kira retorted, still attempting to evade Aegis and help his friends. "However, my friends are on that ship. I can't leave them! … And what about you?" He suddenly asked, sounding more aggressive than he actually was. "Why ZAFT? Why are you fighting?" It surprised him how easily it was to ask these questions. For a moment it was Athrun who became silent. _How do you feel when I'm asking you the same things? Why should I be the only one to answer to these questions? _"You said it yourself, that you hate war, didn't you?" It was so easy to be angry at Athrun. "Why did you attack Heliopolis?"

"Because those misguided Naturals built these things." But Kira wasn't listening.

"Heliopolis was neutral, you had no rights to attack it."

At this moment their conversation was interrupted by Duel's arrival. Unlike Athrun, Yzak wasn't the one who talked to his enemies. Therefore, his choice of action was simple. Kira barely managed to evade the beam blasts. The attack caught him completely off guard, giving Yzak the opportunity to continue firing at the white Mobile Suit.

"What the hell are you doing, Athrun!" Yzak demanded, when he saw his friend's hesitation.

"Yzak…" Athrun stammered and pulled back, out of Duel's way. The arrival of his teammate put him in uneasy situation. He was supposed to destroy or at least fight Kira, but he didn't want his friend to die.

Another beam was absorbed by the shield, as Kira tried to get away from his opponent, but it didn't look like he was going to succeed. Duel kept closing in, recklessly firing again and again, forcing Strike to make more evasive moves.

"What's he trying to do?" Yzak gritted his teeth when Strike gave up another opportunity to return fire. "Is he trying to get away? Damned coward." As soon as he said that, Strike turned around and opened fire. Yzak had expected an attack sooner or later, so it wasn't a wonder when Duel took both shots on its shield. "Good, now that he isn't running away I can beat him up without chasing after him."

xxxxx

The sudden change in Kira's location wasn't the only surprising event. The first one to notice any new happenings was Nicol, when a pair of azure bolts streaked past him, missing only by a couple of meters. "What happened?" He looked around and noticed a new target rapidly approaching. It was the first time he saw the Muscle Tracer and just like others before him, he was taken aback by it's unusual design. "Dearka, we have problems." He informed his friend and avoided another attack from the Pulverizer.

"What kind of problems?" Dearka hadn't noticed the arrival of a new enemy. He had other problems at hand. That damned ship packed too much firepower for him to fire safely. He had to constantly keep moving in order to avoid the incoming attacks. The fact that Buster wasn't built for high mobility battles made things a lot more difficult. "Be precise."

Nicol returned fire, but missed, the target was too far away. "A second unit. I think it's the same one who attacked the commander."

Nicol's explanation turned out to be unnecessary, because the Muscle Tracer suddenly changed direction and began firing at the Buster, forcing the heavy machine to pull back. "Shit. That bastard almost got me." Dearka gasped in surprise. He was forced to increase the distance between him and the Archangel, as the incoming attack power increased, until found himself floating next Nicol's Blitz. "What do we do about that thing?"

"I don't think there's much we can do. Now that they have another pilot outside, it will be a lot harder to fight both of them at the same time."

"If only I could get a chance to hit that bastard." Buster griped the heavy weapons in its hands. "There wouldn't be a single piece left of him."

"I think that the pilot knows that too. Look, he's staying close to the ship." Nicol observed the two targets. He and Dearka were a safe distance away from the ship. Maybe not outside the range, but far enough to easily dodge any kind of attack.

Dearka also noticed that. "Hmm… he's afraid to come at us, that's why he is staying near that ship."

"I have an idea. Let's go and help Athrun and Yzak with the Strike. If we attack the single unit, it might draw that pilot away from the ship and out in the open, where we will destroy him."

"Got it." Dearka grinned. "Let's go!" Both prototypes turned around and set off towards the location where Duel was busy chasing after Strike while the latter was busy trying to hold the aggressor at bay.

_So, you're trying to get me away from the ship. _Daniel thought and considered his options. If he followed them he'd be walking into a trap. Even with the Muscle Tracing online he doubted that he could take on several elite pilots. However, he couldn't leave his friend alone against four enemies. He also considered calling Archangel to help Kira, but the increasing proximity of the Laurasia class ship forced him to reject that thought. He moved the Pulverizer a little bit away from the Archangel, closer to Kira. _You're doing what your enemy wants you to do, stupid. You're walking into a trap. They will attack you at the first chance they get, yet you're still moving away from safety. _A small part of his mind kept reminding him. Finally he decided to screw everything and help his friend. "Archangel, I'm going to help Kira." He informed the ship and engaged the boosters.

Daniel's intervention had bought the Archangel a moment of peace. In fact, the ship was safe, for now. Both Mobile Suits had disengaged and ceased their attacks on Archangel. The bad thing was that those very same enemies were heading to attack Strike. Also, because of Duel, who was now closely following strike, eager to finish the battle with it's beam saber, the ship was unable to provide any kind of support without risking to hit Strike.

Murrue was getting nervous. They were heading toward the enemy Nazca class, but there was still no word from Mu. The Lieutenant had said that he would take care of that ship, but the bridge crew hadn't detected any signs of activity in that location. It was as if Lieutenant's Zero had disappeared, leaving them to fend for themselves. She immediately dismissed the thought. Lieutenant Mu La Flaga would never do something like that. Even though Murrue knew the man for few hours, he didn't look like the traitorous type.

They were very close to their destination. The Artemis space fortress was already on their long range radar. But the same Nazca class was between them and their destination. All this time the enemy ship had kept it's distance, staying out of Archangel's reach, waiting for the slower Laurasia class to attack the target from behind. However, as the fight between Mobile Suits intensified, the Nazca class ship began moving slower and slower. Steadily getting nearer to Archangel's weapon range, seemingly preparing for battle.

"Laser signal from the Nazca class in front of us!" Chandra said to Natarle. "They're aiming at us, we're being locked on!"

"Captain…" Natarle began to fret. When Murrue didn't answer, she took action in her own hands. "Prepare the Lohengrin."

"Wait! The Lieutenant's Zero might be in the way." Murrue objected. "Begin evasive maneuvers…"

"It's too dangerous. If we don't shoot, they will."

Murrue clenched her fists, the situation was dire, and kept worsening. "Laurasia class ship. Approaching fast from the rear." The panic inside her increased, but she didn't let it show. _There has to be a way out of this!_

xxxxx

_Faster, faster, he's not going to last for long. _Daniel pushed his machine to even greater speed. The roar of boosters behind him became louder as the Pulverizer blitzed towards the small group of Mobile Suits. _Get there before they kill Kira. Stop them … in any way possible. _That was all he could think about. Daniel had no idea how he would stop them or what he would do when he got there, he'd think about that when the time comes.

xxxxx

"Just a little more." Mu kept talking to himself. His small spacecraft kept sneaking trough the debris cloud. Each moment brought him closer to his target and with every moment the dangers increased. If Vesalius's crew managed to spot him too early, Mu's Zero would be shot down before he could realize what was going on. That's why Mu kept going as slowly as possible.

Or course there was also Rau Le Creuset to consider. That man had a knack of knowing when Mu was around. The same thing worked for Mu, who could also feel when his enemy was near. How and why he was able to do it, Mu had no idea. All he understood was that he just knew where to search for Le Creuset.

The target display lit up, indicating that he was close enough to attack. "Got you." He smiled a predatory grin and ordered his Zero into a swift charge. The speed quickly climbed to maximum as the Mobile Armor began it's attack. As suspected, the ship began moving almost at the same time he launched his attack. Apparently Rau had once again sensed his presence.

"Too late." Mu cried and released Zero's gunbarrels. He would need every single advantage to take out such a large target. A second later Earth Alliance's Mobile Armor unleashed a devastating barrage from all weapons, showering the Nazca class with a projectile storm. Vesalius didn't leave that unanswered and began firing its CIWS, but the nimble attacker moved too fast for the guns to get a solid lead on it. When the large ship was close enough Mu added a round from the linear gun to the barrage and managed to hit one of the ship's power rooms.

Fortunately for those inside, the damage wasn't enough to set off the generators, which would have destroyed the entire ship. Nonetheless, the generator was severely damaged and resulted in the Vesalius gradually losing power. The ship still had another generator, but it wasn't enough to take on the Archangel.

Inside the ship Rau gritted his teeth as he watched the Mobile Armor retreat as fast as it could. _Damn you, Mu! _He then evaluated the situation and condition of the ship. "The damage is too severe. We won't be able to hold out for long against that ship. We're withdrawing. Order our pilots to cancel the attack and return to the ship." He ordered the captain while maintaining his calm attitude.

xxxxx

"Shit. Damn you!" Kira cursed when he missed Duel, again. Whoever his opponent was, sure knew his way around a Mobile Suit's cockpit. And it wasn't just Duel who was giving him problems. A few moments ago Blitz and Buster had joined the fight, forcing him to come up with evasive moves he didn't knew he was able to do. _It's a good thing that Athrun is leaving me alone. _He risked a quick glance at Aegis. _I'm having enough problems with these guys. _

Duel was coming at him once again, both beam sabers ignited, ready to chop the white machine into pieces, but Kira forced the attacker away with his beam rifle and took a mixture of beams and projectiles on his shield a second later, when Buster opened up with his weaponry. Strike replied with more shots. Rifle spitting emerald darts at the tan Mobile Suit and a few shots at Duel or Blitz, whoever was closer at the given moment. What he failed to notice was Strike's rapidly decreasing power level. The computer showed that he was already in the yellow, swiftly approaching the red zone.

Kira only noticed the lack of power when the rifle ceased to fire. No matter how hard or how much he pressed the trigger, nothing happened. "What's happening?" He looked at the display in front of him and realized what had happened. His careless and inaccurate fire had drained the battery much faster. "Power's out? Damn, the armor." He realized what his carelessness had cost him. With no power, the advanced defense system shut down, leaving him nearly defenseless.

"I've got you now!" Yzak cried, blindly charging at the enemy. Suddenly all four ZAFT pilots received a message, informing them about Vesalius's state. "Vesalius is damaged?" Yzak was so surprised that he actually stopped his attack. The same thing happened to his comrades, who were also taken aback by this unpleasant event. However, Yzak was first to recover and renewed his attack. Ignoring the order to retread he was determined to destroy the Strike.

"Yzak what are you doing? We have orders to fall back." Athrun immediately intervened.

"Shut your mouth, coward!" Yzak snarled and increased the speed. "I'm not letting him get away after fucking around with him so long."

"He has a point, Athrun. We've still haven't achieved a single thing. Besides, we won't get another opportunity like this one again." Dearka agreed with Yzak and followed his friend after the fleeing Strike. Only Blitz remained stationary, floating next to Aegis. Nicol wasn't the one to do reckless things on his own.

"Well, what do we do?"

"I… well." Athrun pursed his lips and frowned. Then he made up his mind. With a sudden burst of speed Aegis switched to it's Mobile Armor mode and went after Strike, while Blitz was closely following behind. Athrun quickly caught up with the rest of the Mobile Suits and, much to everyone's surprise, caught Kira's Mobile Suit between Aegis's four limbs. With Strike, tightly in it's grip, Aegis turned toward the Gamov and gunned the thrusters.

_What just happened? Damn! _Kira looked around the cockpit, seeking a way out of this situation. He felt the impact when Aegis grabbed him and he realized that Athrun was the one behind this. _What is he trying to do? Where is he taking me? _

"What the hell are you up to?" Athrun's comrades demanded explanations.

"I'm capturing this thing."

"We were ordered to destroy it, there wasn't anything about capture. Stop doing things on your own accord!"

"It will be a lot better if we capture this unit instead of destroying it. Retreat!"

"Athrun!"

"Where are you taking me!" Kira asked on the general channel.

""I'm taking you to the Gamov."

"What? I'm not going to a ZAFT ship!" Kira protested and tried to get free, but without any success.

"Let go of my friend, you fucking Patchworkers!" Daniel's furious cry sounded over the channel. A second later the Pulverizer charged into the tight formation, firing both plasma cannons at everyone he managed to get in his crosshairs.

"Who the fuck is this?" Yzak threw Duel out of harm's way, while others took similar actions. Aegis was the only Mobile Suit that didn't get fired at, probably because whoever was piloting that machine was afraid to hit Strike.

"Just fuckin' die!" Daniel fired again, nearly blowing Buster's head off. He was frustrated by the relatively low fire rate of his weapons.

His advantage didn't last long. Surprised at first, the ZAFT pilots were quick to recover. Of the three, Blitz was the first one who returned fire. Once he fired, Nicol was certain that the pilot was a Natural, mainly because how slowly the Pulverizer reacted to his attack. The green beam missed only by the smallest of margins.

_Oh, shit, shit, shit! _Daniel was forced to stop firing and start dodging the incoming beams. The Muscle Tracing system did a good job in providing the necessary assistance, which helped him to survive, as he was able to control the Pulverizer much better than before. However, he had serious problems dodging so many attacks at once, while trying to catch Aegis and help Kira.

Finally Yzak was the one who landed the first shot. After noticing how badly Daniel was dealing with the momentum form his maneuvers, he took a steady aim and fired. Two beams struck the Pulverizer just below the right arm. But that's where another surprise came from. The beams left a pair of nasty black scars, clearly melting their way trough the machine's armor. Despite this, the blue and copper brown machine didn't seem to be affected by the damage.

Being on the receiving end of Duel's attack, it was impossible for him not to notice the damage he took. And he certainly couldn't not notice the impact that went across the cockpit. Fortunately no alarm went off, which meant that the damage probably wasn't serious._Thank goodness. _He swallowed hard and used the boosters to avoid being hit again.

Pulverizer soon replied by firing off a few shots at Buster. When Daniel saw the size of Buster's weapons, he quickly understood, that this unit possessed the heaviest firepower and was therefore the biggest threat to him. That's why he focused on trying to keep Dearka off balance by forcing him to dodge his attacks. Even if they were approximate at best.

While Pulverizer was kept busy by his friends Athrun continued his path towards the Gamov, still holding Strike in Aegis's clutches. He also was slightly shocked by the arrival of another machine. He was distracted from his thoughts when the threat board lit up. A Mobile Armor was rapidly approaching him. Soon after, several hard impacts informed him that Aegis was under attack. While not being able to inflict any kind of damage, the rounds did an excellent job of rattling the Mobile Suit. He tried to evade, but it was a lot more difficult while holding Strike, therefore, more and more rounds struck Athrun's Mobile Suit. After a few more hits, he had enough and he released the captured mobile Suit and went after Mu's Zero.

"Kid. You okay?"

"Lieutenant Flaga?" Kira asked, confused by the recent events.

"No time, head back to the Archangel. The ship will launch the Launcher Pack. There's still another ship behind us. Hurry up!" Mu rised his voice when Kira didn't move. Now that Aegis wasn't occupied with Strike and fired back, the Lieutenant was having a difficult job of staying away from the incoming bullet bursts or beam blasts.

Kira observed their battle before Mu's bark shook him up. "Y-yes, understood." Slightly concerned about leaving his friend behind, he turned around and ignited the thrusters. Barely a second passed when he picked up two signals approaching him from behind. The signals turned out to be Duel and Buster, who had broken off from their fight with the Pulverizer and were renewing their attack on the Strike.

Daniel couldn't do anything to prevent that. His hands were effectively tied by Blitz, who blocked his every attempt of saving Kira with well aimed beams. "Kira watch out. Duel and Buster are on your tail." Daniel's warning came a bit too late.

"No you don't!" Nicol moved in front of the Pulverizer and forced it to retreat with one of the armor penetrators. The sharp spike passed so closely that Daniel could have sworn that he heard the thing scrape against the Pulverizer's head. But that wasn't the worst part. The Blitz ignited it's beam saber and charged the Muscle Tracer. Nicol had realized that besides the two plasma cannons, Pulverizer didn't possess any other weapons.

For a moment Daniel thought the same thing, then he desperately began searching for any kind of close combat weapons, other than Pulverizer's legs and those ridiculously short arms. Even though he was able to move Pulverizer much better, going unarmed against a beam saber wasn't something he wanted to do. _C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. Where are the weapons? _His thoughts began racing trough his head. He fired off a few more shots that missed completely. _No, stay the hell away from me you damned bastard! _The natural fear from the approaching close combat, which was always considered more frightening than ranged battle, overwhelmed his mind.

Fortunately, help came from somewhere he didn't expect. "Warning, sympathetic nervous system activity increase detected." The computerized female voice stated, almost scaring the shit out of Daniel. The computer, that could perform thousands of calculations per second, analyzed the incoming data from the Muscle Tracing system, Pulverizer's status, radar, scanners, and FCS. The conclusion was almost instant. Light damage to the core, rapidly approaching enemy contact. Fight-or-flight response from pilot, caused by the approaching hostile. "Target is armed with close combat weaponry. Preparing Pulverizer's close combat weapons. Laser blades online."

The whole process had lasted barely longer than a second and afterwards, both Nicol and Daniel found out the purpose of the triangular-shaped forearms. They served as projectors for two, long azure blades. As soon as Daniel's mind took in the new situation, he immediately began jerking the controls, trying to repel the utterly surprised Nicol. Not bothering to strike any specific part or anything at all, due to the panic, Daniel made wide slashes and strong thrusts.

While he was able to keep Blitz out of Pulverizer's reach, Nicol didn't have any chance to close in for the kill. The two laser blades were much longer than his single beam saber and it was a lot harder for Nicol to deflect them. Especially both at the same time.

Nicol was about to back away, so that he could safely fire the two remaining lances, when he and Daniel heard Yzak's victorious cry. "I won't let you do that." It was enough to distract both pilots and turn their attention elsewhere.

Thanks to Mu's unusual plan, Archangel's crew had a chance to replenish Strike's power level. The plan was to use one of the catapults to launch the Launcher Pack when Strike was in a good enough position to equip it. Although risky and with dozens of parts that could go wrong, it was their best shot. For a moment it looked like everything might go smoothly, without any problems, but then Yzak intervened. Moving as fast as Duel's thrusters carried him, he weaved trough Archangel's defenses and went after Strike. Since the particles from anti-beam charges hadn't dispersed enough for him to make a lethal shot with the beam rifle at this range, Yzak decided to use the underbarrel grenade. He activated his targeting display and took a careful aim. He only had a one shot at this and he intended to use it properly. After the computer got a lock, he grinned and pressed the trigger at the same time.

"He's got a lock?" Kira gasped when he noticed the incoming grenade. Usually a grenade would be used against a much larger and slower target. However, in this situation it hardly made a difference, since Kira couldn't afford to move Strike out of the way before the launcher pack had connected. Everyone on the battlefield held their breaths, waiting for the outcome. Then it came. A bright explosion blossomed into existence when the grenade exploded, hiding Strike from the view. The Archangel's bridge fell silent and so did both Natural pilots. Even Athrun found himself intensely staring at the explosion, despite the close proximity of Moebius Zero, whom he had fought all this time.

"Did I get him?" Yzak tried to make out something in the explosion. A hull, debris or a piece of any part of the Mobile Suit he'd targeted. Anything, that would indicate whether Strike was destroyed or not. When the explosion started to die down, he thought that he saw a movement. Suddenly, before he could make out something more, a reddish impulse beam emerged from the cloud and headed at it's target – Duel. "What the?" Yzak pulled himself away from the main screen and almost instinctively pulled his Mobile Suit away as well. The attack only melted away Duel's arm, instead of blasting the entire machine into pieces. "Shit!"He swore when the alarms went off, informing him about what he already knew. But that wasn't all. Kira, encouraged by the full battery and angered by the close call, closed in. Firing the Agni impulse cannon again and again, each shot forcing Yzak to take an evasive maneuver. Dearka attempted to cover his comrade, but was immediately blasted away by Mu's Zero.

"Listen, Yzak, Dearka, further attacks are meaningless."

"What?" Yzak asked, incredulous.

"I agree with Athrun." Nicol added. "If we keep fighting it'll be our power levels that will be in danger."

If hate could inflict pain, Strike's pilot would be screaming in agony due to Yzak's anger. But no matter how much he wished for that to happen all he could do was to simply glare at the machine he hated so much. Not only he had failed to shoot it down, the pilot had disgraced him by destroying Duel's arm. _Fuck, he's right. _He punched the main screen in great exasperation, where Strike could be seen, blasting away with the impulse cannon, while Dearka pulled Yzak's Mobile Suit further away._ That bastard, I'll rip him apart! _

Every pilot and crewmember, currently on the bridge breathed in relief, as they saw the Mobile Suit team retreat. Murrue was one of them, although she tried not to look too relieved. It wouldn't be good if it looked like she wasn't sure of their success. "Full speed towards Artemis." She leaned back against her seat. "And tell our pilots to return."

xxxxx

Being the undamaged ship, it was up to Gamov to house the four Mobile Suits, while Vesalius was being repaired. Since all four machines were in the same ship, it also meant that their pilots were also in the same ship. In Yzak's case it was a good opportunity to get some answers and blow off some steam.

"You bastard!" He shoved Athrun against the lockers, while holding him by his collar, so that he couldn't escape. "What the hell is your problem? What were you trying to do?"

Usually Athrun wouldn't allow himself being treated like this, but there was some truth in Yzak's words. However, Athrun didn't answer. If he mentioned something about his friendship with Kira to his teammates, it would lead to unpleasant situations. That's why he didn't answer.

"If you hadn't pulled of some idiotic stunts."

"Thanks to your insubordination, it was a total failure." Dearka agreed, also upset about the result of the battle. He didn't take the physical approach like Yzak did, that wasn't his style. But he remained nearby in case things went out of control.

The doors opened and revealed Nicol who entered the room, interrupting the one-sided conversation, or rather, interrogation. "What are you going? Please stop it!" He demanded.

Yzak glanced at him, upset by his presence. "We attacked them with four units. Four! Yet we still weren't able to do bring them down." He emphasized his point by tightening his grip on Athrun's collar and pressing him a bit stronger against the lockers, while giving Athrun a hateful glare. "That's humiliating!"

"Even so, blaming Athrun won't change anything." Nicol retorted. He didn't look away when Yzak looked at him again. After a few tense seconds, the bright haired Coordinator released Athrun and left the room, with Dearka close behind him. Then he turned his attention to Athrun. "Athrun… I also think that it wasn't like you."

Athrun didn't say anything. All his thoughts were on Kira. He felt that he was betrayed by his old friend. _That idiot. Why can't he understand that his place is among us? Why can't he see that? _

"Nicol, could you please leave me alone for now…? I'm not in the mood to talk right now." He quietly said and left the room in order to clear his head.

xxxxx

"It's good to be back." Mu sighed while he climbed out of Zero's cockpit. The mechanics were already starting their tasks to repair and prepare his Mobile Armor for the next battle. He himself felt tired, the battle had taken out a lot more from him, than he expected.

The airlock opened, allowing Pulverizer to enter the hangar. Daniel was the last one to return back to the ship. The machine was slightly damaged, but nothing that a few hours wouldn't repair. However, almost everyone, including Mu, noticed that there was something different about the Pulverizer. The Muscle Tracer's movements were more fluid and precise than before. The heavy stomping, with which it left the hangar some time ago, were replaced by much lighter steps. In fact the Pulverizer moved very much like Strike, if not better._Hmm, that guy must have done something to improve the machine's performance. _He quietly observed the Pulverizer. _Looks like this day is full of surprises. _

"Hey, kid!" Chief Murdoch's voice sounded across the hangar. He, and a group of other mechanics were floating next to Strike, whose cockpit hadn't yet opened. Apparently Kira hesitated to leave the Mobile Suit.

Mu propelled himself towards the small group. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked and touched Strike's surface to stop himself.

"Well, the kid isn't coming out."

"Oh, that's strange." Mu moved to the side, where the emergency cockpit lock was located and opened the cockpit hatch. "Hey, what are you doing? Hey, Kira Yamato…" Mu stuck his head inside and fell silent when he saw Kira. The young pilot was still clinging to the controls and panting. He wasn't even able to hear Mu's voice, because of the shock.

"It's over now." Mu said in a calm voice. "Come out already." He gently removed Kira's hands from the controls. "Everyone is fine. Good job out there."

Kira looked at his hands and slowly clenched them. "Everyone?"

"That's right, everyone." Mu nodded. "Well everyone, except for Daniel, I haven't seen him yet." He added and jerked his head in Pulverizer's general direction.

"It looks like the other one's fine too." Murdoch said from where he was waiting next to the cockpit. "I've never seen anyone leave the cockpit so fast before."

"Is something wrong?" Mu left the cockpit in order to get a better view, while Kira removed the safety restraints.

Unlike Kira, Daniel has wasted little time inside the cockpit. In the very moment he felt the needles being removed from his body he left trough the hatch overhead, even though it hadn't opened completely at that time. He stopped only then, when he was sure that he was completely outside and away from harm. "Shit … Something like that is fucking wrong." He pulled off the helmet and released it, letting it float nearby. "Who would put something like that inside a machine? Whoever piloted it before me must have been a real sicko." He moved his arms and legs, hoping that there wouldn't be any permanent damage. Luckily, there wasn't. He was completely fine, just tired. _Good. At least there's nothing wrong with me. Damn, for a moment I thought I'm done for._

"You look scared, is everything alright?" Daniel turned around and saw Mu next to him. The man's worried gaze was fixed on him. Daniel shook his head in denial. "Good … Very good." He paused for a while before speaking again. "Well, you two did great out there. I'll admit that I was a bit worried about you two, but its good to see that I was wrong. Well, be sure to get some rest, kid. You two earned it." Mu clapped on Daniel's shoulder and left him alone.

"Yeah, sure." Daniel said more to himself and grabbed the helmet. He was about to go and change when he saw Kira heading the same way. "Hey, Kira, wait up." He called and moved towards his friend.

Kira waited for him next to the elevator. He could tell that Daniel was exhausted, by simply looking at him. Truth be told, Kira felt the same. Piloting Mobile Suits was no easy task, especially for someone so inexperienced as them. "You okay?" He asked when Daniel reached him and they both entered the elevator.

"Just tired." Daniel answered and flopped to the ground. "Damn, that was a close call."

"By the way, thanks for helping me back there. You know, with the Aegis and all."

"Don't worry 'bout that." Daniel waved it off. "All I did was to confuse them a little. But you should be more careful with those freaks. The damned Patchworkers are better at this than we are." The exhaustion overwhelmed him and he leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to regain some strength. This way he didn't notice the strange look Kira gave him.

Suddenly, Kira felt very uneasy. The air seemed to become colder as the revelation sunk in. _He doesn't know that I'm a Coordinator!_Kira quickly searched his memory and couldn't find any event or moment where Daniel might have found out the truth. _Damn, what should I do? Should I tell him? _He recalled the event in space, when Daniel entered the battle. _No, if I tell him now, it might end bad for both of us. I think it'll be better if I tell him later. _However, a small part of him continued to wonder, how will Daniel react to this and what effect will it have on their friendship.

xxxxx

"So this is the ship that has caused all the commotion." Rear Admiral Gerard Garcia observed the Archangel. The display showed him that the ship was currently docking inside Artemis. Several soldiers were already standing by, waiting for the order to secure the ship and it's crew. "Atlantic Federation's top secret project."

"It seems that the earlier rumors about a ship in Heliopolis were true." His aide added.

"Yes, this might turn out to be very fortunate for us. I'll make sure they stay here for a long time." Gerard smirked. This indeed was a great opportunity. _Now that we have their most valuable project in our hands, I must make sure to gather as many data as possible. Then we will show the Atlantic Federation who is the real power on Earth._His fist clenched at the thought of Atlantic Federation. Always dictating their will on the rest of the EA. Always sticking into other peoples business. If possible, Gerard would have ordered the ship, and everything inside, stolen and the crew eliminated. He would come up with a believable story to convince the higher-ups about a terrible accident or something like that. If only there weren't Atlantic Federation officers on Artemis. If only…

"I hope you're not thinking about stealing our ship and those two machines. Such an incident could severely damage our diplomatic relationships, mister Garcia." Someone said from behind him.

"No, no. Why should I think about something like that?" Gerard turned around in his chair to face the two men standing on the other side of the desk. One of them was his aide, but it was the other man Gerard was annoyed with. "Atlantic Federation is our ally. What would become of us if we fought each other?" At the same time he said those words his soldiers began boarding Archangel.

"Those would be strange times indeed." The man said with a sarcastic smile, as everyone in the room was able to see what was going on, just by looking at the displays, mounted on the wall behind Gerard. "Just because you are our allies, we have decided to let you gather as much information about the Strike as you want. But the Pulverizer remains untouched, understand?" He finished in an impudent tone.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, Major Domenic Moore!" Gerard felt steady anger building up inside him. How dare this man speak to him in such a tone! He glared into the man's greyish-blue eyes, but was met with a firm and intimidating look. _This man is nothing! Nothing but a Major! _He told himself after glancing at the rank insignias. Technically Major Moore had no authority over him, a Rear Admiral. However, a brief look on the Major's black and crimson uniform, reminded him about the unit this man represented. Unit, that had a lot of influence in Earth Alliance's armed forces.

"Forgive me, Admiral." Domenic mock bowed, enjoying every second of this. Afterwards, he corrected the dark red beret, which hid his shortly trimmed dark blond hair, and continued in a much colder voice. "I don't care about your fucking pride. We both know that you have no authority over me, so do not try to scare me by putting up a nasty mug. All I'm saying is, that if your men even look at the Pulverizer in a wrong way, I'll make sure that you have worse things to worry about than my tone." Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. The guards had brought the Archangel's commanding officers. Mu, Natarle and Murrue entered the room. Domenic closely observed everyone of them and looked back at Gerard. "Well, Admiral, I'm no longer needed here, so I'll leave you to your business." He saluted and left the room, his eyes briefly meeting with the three Atlantic Federation officers.

Gerard quickly calmed down and stood up, greeting his quests. "Welcome to Artemis. I apologize for the rough welcome, but a ship without identification code isn't something we see every day. So, precautions were taken."

Outside the room, Domenic made his way down the hallway. _So, the ship has finally reached a safe location. And the Muscle Tracer is still aboard, along with Strike. _Although he hated to admit it, he was quite upset when he heard the news about Heliopolis. All things pointed to a huge disaster. But then, thanks to a stroke of blind luck the Archangel arrived at Artemis, shortly after the Agamemnon class battleship, Scipio, had docked with the station to repair the engines, damaged in an unexpected encounter with ZAFT forces, who had disturbed their mission. Testing of a top secret weapon. _I must notify the Colonel about this. _A quick thought surged trough his mind and he quickened his pace. Instead of going to the communications room, he decided to return to the Scipio. The information he was about to reveal was far to sensitive for ordinary soldiers to hear.

xxxxx

Shortly after the boarding, the entire Archangel's crew and civilians from Heliopolis was assembled in the cafeteria. There they were ordered to remain until further notice. It wasn't long until the crew began to suspect that something wasn't right. Their suspicions increased when the soldiers, guarding the entrance, snapped to attention and two officers entered the room. "Where are the Mobile Suit pilot and engineers of this ship?" Gerard began without wasting any moment.

"The pilot and engineers! You should be here." Admiral's aide repeated the question when nervous whispers ran trough the room but no one answered.

Kira wanted to reply, but was held down by Murdoch, who silently shook his head. "Sit still, kid."

Daniel, who was sitting across the table from Kira, frowned. _Why are they asking for Kira only? There are two machines in the hangar. Or maybe they have cracked my code? _He remembered about the security lock he and Kira had put on their machines after Mu recommended to do so. He clenched his teeth. _What if they took it? What will I do?_ He noticed one of the Archangel's crewmembers stand up and approach the Admiral. Daniel forced himself to listen, maybe things weren't so bad.

"Why are you asking us?" Neumann asked. In return Gerard's aide grabbed him by the collar.

"What?"

"It's because Captain and the others didn't say? Or rather, they didn't answer." Neumann continued, despite being threatened. "What are you planning to do with Strike?"

Admiral Garcia beckoned to have Neumann released. "Nothing much. Since we're under strict orders not to touch the Pulverizer, we want to explore the Strike before it leaves Artemis, that's all. So, I will ask again, where is the pilot?"

_How does he know? _Daniel's heart skipped a beat. _How does he know the name of that machine? There is no way, he could know without having turned on the Pulverizer and he just said, that they're not allowed to touch it. Then how? HOW?_

No matter how worried or chaotic Daniel's thoughts were, others didn't care about that. So nothing stopped Murdoch from trying to save the situation. "Lieutenant Flaga is the pilot. Ask him."

"We saw the battle." Gerard didn't agree. "And I know that Lieutenant Flaga is the only one, who can pilot a Zero, so smoothly." His gaze traveled across the faces in front of him and stopped on Miriallia. "Hmm. I don't think that a girl would be the pilot, but since the ship's captain is also a woman …" He mused and grabbed Miriallia, pulling her up to her feet.

Several members of the crew jumped up, ready to defend the girl, but were interrupted. "Stop that! That's low!" Kira shouted and broke loose from Murdoch's grip. "Leave her alone. I'm the pilot."

"You, a pilot?" Gerard asked, incredulous and released Miriallia. "Listen, I understand that you want to protect the girl." He approached Kira, while his aide and a few soldiers followed him. "But a brat like you isn't able to pilot something like a Mobile Suit. So stop wasting my time!" He rised his voice and threw a punch, eager to teach this punk a lesson.

Kira saw the coming attack and grabbed the Admiral's fist then, fluently flung the officer to the ground. "You have no right to hit me. What the hell are you people trying to do?" He angrily demanded, when soldiers began to surround him.

"You bastard!" Gerard's aide grabbed Kira and rised his fist. Sai tried to intervene, but was roughly showed aside by the older man. Daniel attempted a hero move of his own, but found himself pressed against the table's surface with his arm pinned behind his back. One of the soldiers saw him make the move and therefore, restrained him.

"Sai!" Flay exclaimed her fiancé was hurt without any reason. She helped him get back up, before addressing the Eurasian officer. "Stop this! Kira is telling the truth! He is the pilot! I'm not lying. He can pilot it because he is a Coordinator." An uncomfortable silence fell across the room, as the information sunk in. Several surprised looks were fixed on Kira. Among them, one was filled with surprise, confusion and growing anger.

xxxxx

In the mean time, Blitz was approaching the Artemis fortress under the cover of Mirage Colloid, which made his machine invisible to the fortress's radar and anyone who might be looking in it's location. Carefully searching for the lightwave barrier emitters, Nicol remembered to keep an eye of the timer he'd activated when he turned on the Mirage Colloid. After all, his Mobile Suit couldn't stay invisible forever.

xxxxx

"Even though we are from an unknown ship, there is something wrong with the way we're being treated!" Natarle paced back and forth. Currently, she was the only one, who wasn't able to calm down enough to sit down on one of the two couches in the middle of the room they occupied.

"And what can we do about it?" Mu said from where he was sprawled on the couch. "They have no intention of letting us get back to the ship. However, what really worries me is that they keep thinking that Artemis is completely safe."

While Mu and Natarle were discussing their current situation and problems, Murrue was thinking about something else, or rather, someone else. "Domenic Moore." Murrue repeated the name she spotted on the man's name tag.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." Murrue shrugged, apparently she had said it loud enough for Mu to hear. "I was thinking about that Major we saw in Admiral's office. Major Domenic Moore. His name sounds familiar."

"Well, now that you mention it, I think I heard about someone like him. He is supposed to work for the Atlantic Federation. Some sort of a high class unit." Mu narrowed his eyes, trying to recall what he knew. "Can't remember the name though."

"It doesn't matter who is that man, what's important is that we must find a way to get away from this place." Natarle admonished and stopped pacing.

"Any ideas?" Mu looked around, searching the room for solutions, but nothing came up. "I don't think that we're getting out of here without outside help."

A distant explosion shook the room, as if it was waiting for a signal all this time. Then, another one, this time much stronger. "Explosion?" Murrue shot up and looked at the ceiling.

"We're under attack." Mu took a sharp breath when the alarms began blaring, while more and more explosions went off, as the Blitz continued to destroy one emitter after another. Then, without a warning he began to shout. "HEEEELP. THE EXPLOSION OPENED UP A CREVICE IN THE WALL! THE AIR…!" Both women gave him confused looks. "Start shouting! That'll make them open the door!" He quickly explained and renewed his cries for help.

"HELP ME, I'M DYING!" Murrue began to play along, utterly surprising Natarle and leaving her completely bewildered. Such a childish trick seemed very unnatural for EA officers. Mu and Murrue continued to call for the guards to open the doors and Mu took his position next to the doors, trying not to give away his position.

Fortunately, their plan worked. One of the guards opened the doors and entered the room to check out the situation. Before he could take more than two steps, Mu attacked him from behind and knocked him unconscious with a solid chop to the soldier's neck. His fellow also was knocked out by a fist to the stomach. "Hurry, let's go!" Mu urged everyone to leave.

"I agree. I have no intention of dying along with Artemis." Murrue said and followed Mu out of the room together with Natarle.

xxxxx

The entire base was falling into chaos. Realizing that their sense of security was false, many soldiers panicked, some even abandoned their posts. Orders were issued to late and were often misunderstood. The panic spread even further when Blitz entered the port and began firing at the many targets it found inside. Some Mobile Armors tried to stop the intruder and took off from the ships, stationed inside the port. But all of them were almost instantly destroyed. Few of them exploded immediately, others crashed into walls, ships or other Mobile Armors.

Few minutes after the sudden attack began, another disaster struck. The Laurasia class battleship returned and launched Duel and Buster, further increasing the odds in ZAFT's favor. Unlike the silent and cautious approach Nicol was forced to take. Yzak and Dearka didn't worry about being detected. Artemis's primary defense was already destroyed. Both units blitzed towards the burning rock with all the speed they could muster.

Kira wasted little time in getting rid of the guard inside the cockpit. Using the opportunity, created by the attack and confusion Kira kicked the guard outside, when he wasn't looking. Then he proceeded to activate his Mobile Suit and closed the hatch. For now, he was safe from the Eurasian soldiers outside. There was nothing they could do to him, not with the Phase Shift armor activated. Making huge steps, he brought Strike inside the catapult. No matter how Kira disliked the Eurasians, Blitz was the biggest problem and he had to take care of it first.

Apparently Archangel's crew hadn't lost their heads and had manned their stations, because as soon as Strike entered the catapult, several hatches opened and the system began equipping the Mobile Suit with weapons. This time, the Sword Striker pack was placed on Strike. Once the weapons were equipped, Kira began moving towards the exit. In such a closed space, using a linear catapult was a foolish choice.

Strike emerged from the Archangel at the same moment Nicol noticed the white ship between several Agamemnon class warships. It took little time for both pilots to notice and engage each other. Paying little attention to their surroundings Kira and Nicol traded blows from their anchors. When that proved ineffective Strike went after his opponent with the anti-ship sword.

While the two Mobile Suits were fighting each other. Murrue, Natarle and Mu finally reached the ship and hurried towards the bridge. With additional enemies approaching, they had to get out of the Artemis as soon as possible. No matter what the defenders thought, the fortress was already lost. Those who continued fighting got that message when Duel and Buster arrived and started to destroy everything they could see. Mainly any remaining Mobile Armors and ships, who tried to escape. The tightly packed metal bodies turned into perfect targets for Dearka's artillery Mobile Suit. Yzak provided cover by fending off the few Moebius units.

"Turn around, we will escape trough the opposite exit." Murrue ordered the crew. "Recall Strike." She added while the large vessel slowly turned around.

"Kira, come back. The Archangel is leaving." Miriallia informed the pilot, who wasted little time getting away from the Blitz. Making his way trough and around the explosions that raged inside the port, Kira followed the Archangel, leaving Blitz behind.

By the time Nicol was able to find a way after his opponent, both targets had left the fortress and were too far to try to catch them. All three pilots were forced to watch the Archangel increasing the already huge gap between them. After they saw, that it was no use, all three pilots returned to Gamov. While unable to yet again destroy the white ship, they had managed to destroy the Artemis and severely cripple EA's presence in this sector.

xxxxx

Among the wreckage and debris, that filled the interior of Artemis's port. Some ships remained almost untouched. ZAFT pilots, eager to get their prize had ignored them and later – forgot about them. One of these ships was the Scipio. While it's engines were still unusable, the remaining ship was intact and the crew unharmed.

"So, you're telling me that hell outside is messing with the communications?" Domenic snarled and threw down the radio. "Fuck those Patchworkers! Attacking while I'm trying to send a message. I'm starting to think they did that on purpose."

"Calm down, Major. At least the ship is fairly intact and the crew is unharmed." The Captain gave a placating smile. "Shall I order to begin the search for survivors?"

"I don't give a damn about the survivors. None of them were from the Atlantic Federation, just a bunch of Eurasian lowlifes." Domenic said and approached the doors, leading away from the bridge. "Inform me when the communications are back online."

"Of course, mister Moore." The Captain replied and went back to coordinating the tasks aboard Scipio.


	7. Conflict

Having successfully escaped from Artemis and leaving ZAFT's ship far behind, the Archangel continued it's path back to Moon. The whole Artemis incident had shaken up everyone pretty bad, but because of the absence of any hostiles, the people aboard Archangel calmed down and took in the situation. Several people were shocked to find out about the gap of dislike and mistrust between the two nations, which were supposed to be allies. Finding out that your friend was actually the lesser of two evils was enough to cast doubts about the political situation on many minds.

Another, more actual problem was the small amount of supplies they received from the Eurasian fortress. While food wasn't going to be a problem, it was water, that made everyone nervous. No matter how carefully they rationed it, there was nowhere enough to last them until they reached their destination. And it was a well known fact that humans didn't last long without water.

"Unless we take this route, I don't see any other way we can reach the Moon before water runs out." Neumann highlighted his suggested course on the map. "And even then, it will be too much of a close call."

Natarle carefully inspected the map and let out a silent sigh. "Isn't there a better route? This one will bring us too close to the Debris Belt." Neumann shook his head in denial.

"What if we try to break trough the Debris Belt? That way we will reach the Moon sooner." Murrue voiced her proposal.

"Going trough that? It's too dangerous. We'll only end up becoming debris ourselves." Neumann instantly objected. Mu also agreed with the helmsman.

"Yes, going trough that pile of waste and leftovers is a huge risk to say the least and …" He suddenly fell silent and took a closer look at the map. "Debris Belt …" Mu silently murmured. After a few more moments he looked at everyone else. "I'm the man who makes the impossible, possible." He declared with a wide smile. "I think that I have a solution to our water problem."

xxxxx

"So, I pushed that button and suddenly, WHAM … a whole bunch of needles shot into my back." Daniel banged on the table, to give his story more impact. "The next thing I know, the Pulverizer was moving perfectly." Others stared at him with mixed surprise and amazement. "What happened then, well, you saw the rest."

"You think that those needles have something to do with controlling that thing?" Sai sat down and placed his tray on the table in front of him. "Sure looks like an insane way to control the Pulverizer."

Daniel, sitting across the table, glanced at him and nodded. "I agree, getting poked by needles, just to move around your machine does sound crazy."

"By the way," Miriallia cut in. "Did you go and see the doctor after you returned?"

"Yeah, he examined me as best as he could, but found nothing wrong. Of course finding such complicated injuries without any specialized equipment is very hard, that's why the doctor suggested that I go see a doctor when we reach the Moon."

"Speaking of which, do you think that we'll be able to reach the Moon before we run out of water?" Miriallia said, slowly swinging her glass of water.

"Sure! The Captain said that everything will be alright." Tolle assured, cheerfully emptying his glass and loudly putting it down afterwards.

"And you believe her?" Flay arched her brows.

"Of course I do. She looks confident enough."

"Judging someone by how he looks can be misleading." Daniel shot a strange look at him, before continuing his meal. "Sometimes it can make you trust the wrong people." He added in a silent voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Tolle blinked in puzzlement. Others traded similar looks.

"Oh, nothing … It's nothing at all." Daniel quickly changed his tone, trying to sound nonchalant. However, no matter how hard he tried to, he couldn't hide the angry spark in his eyes when the cafeteria doors opened and Kira entered the room.

"Hey, Kira. Have you finished your maintenance of the Strike?" Tolle immediately forgot Daniel's strange behavior.

"Yeah, but I had trouble cleaning the parts with the parts washing machine, so it was a headache." He replied. "It took me a lot of time to finish it." Kira hadn't yet noticed Daniel, who was looking at him with an outright hostile scowl. This was the first time they were in a same room since Artemis, where Daniel found out that his close friend was actually a Coordinator.

Before he could say anything, Flay reluctantly stood up and addressed him. "Erm Kira ... Sorry for earlier." She quickly said and gave an apologizing bow. "About Artemis. I said that without thinking … you know, that you are a Coordinator."

"Don't worry about that. I don't really mind." He waved it off. "After all, it's true."

"If it's true then why did you keep it a secret from us?" Daniel suddenly spoke in a cold voice that surprised everyone. "Why didn't you tell us, that you're a Coordinator? I think that your friends should know about who you really are. Isn't that right?" He looked around, waiting for his friends to support him. What surprised him, were the confused looks everyone gave him. As if he was talking about something everyone, except him, already knew.

"Uhh, Daniel, we already know that." Tolle explained, Miriallia, Sai, Kuzzey confirmed that as well. "Kira told it to everyone back on Heliopolis."

"You knew?" Daniel exclaimed, shocked by the revelation. Silent nods met the question. "Then why didn't you tell me?" He shot up to his feet. "Why didn't you tell me that he," Daniel pointed at Kira. "Was a Coordinator? Why?" He turned his attention to Kira. "Why didn't YOU tell me!" At this point everyone fell completely silent. Seeing their friend so angry for the first time utterly astonished them. Daniel saw none of this. All his attention was focused on Kira, who had taken a step back, while Flay had also backed away and stood next to Sai.

"Don't you think that I have rights to know something like that?" Daniel demanded harshly. "I think that I deserve to know who my friends really are." He emphasized the last few words, while taking a few steps closer to Kira. "Or maybe you thought that I don't need to hear something like this."

"Daniel … I tried…" Kira began, but was immediately cut off.

"Oh, I understand. I understand perfectly. You didn't tell me because a Natural like me doesn't need to hear something that doesn't concern me. Isn't that right?" He hissed. "Why should I tell Daniel that I'm a Coordinator?" He mocked Kira's voice. "Heck, I'll tell all my other friends, but not Daniel, because he's too stupid to understand something like this." His voice full of anger. "I know that I'm not the smartest one around, but even I know that you must treat your friends equally. If you can't do that, then you're not my friend." He spat on the ground in front of Kira.

"Daniel, please. When I told everyone, you weren't there, and I didn't have a chance to tell you about that." Kira tried to talk some sense into him, but Daniel was beyond the point of reason.

"Shut up, Kira. Just shut up and leave me alone." Daniel shook his head, refusing to hear any other truth than his own. "Because I don't know if I'll be able to restrain myself from knocking out your teeth, you fucking Coordinator." He said and stormed out, leaving a confused silence in his wake.

"Kira, wait!" Tolle said, when Kira wanted to go after Daniel and explain everything. "Let him go. Talking to him right now is completely pointless. Even if you had the most solid arguments, he still wouldn't listen to you." He beckoned Kira to sit down, which the said boy did.

"I never thought that it would turn out like this." Kira began, shaken to the core, by Daniel's sudden outburst.

"None of us did." Miriallia added in a calm, but slightly worried voice. "Honestly, I'm surprised that he didn't know about … well, you know."

"Well, considering the fact, that we know him for a few months, it's not surprising." Sai pushed his shades back up and said to Kira. "I think that for now, it's best to let him cool down for a while before approaching him again. And don't feel sorry that you didn't tell him that you are a Coordinator."

"Honestly, I'm not surprised that he reacted like this." Kuzzey silently said, his gaze fixed on the door, trough which Daniel recently left. "He's from the Atlantic Federation and there are lots of people who hate Coordinators." He broke off and turned his gaze back to others. "I guess, all that anti-Coordinator view there, has affected him." He gave an apologizing look to Flay, who was also from the Atlantic Federation. The girl, sitting next to Sai again, slightly frowned, but said nothing.

"I understand, but I really think that I should have told him the truth." Kira agreed, he just couldn't shake the felling that no matter what he did, their friendship won't be the same anymore. Sai shook his head.

"Kira, you've done nothing wrong. Some things require the right time to be revealed. Don't worry, Daniel is not the kind of a guy who can remain angry forever. If you let him cool off, I'm sure that you can work things out." Sai assured him. "Besides, you've got us, if things do become worse, we'll help you."

xxxxx

After he left the cafeteria, Daniel continued to pace around the ship for a while, trying to went his anger. Upon realizing that Kira was a Coordinator, he felt betrayed and resentful. The sheer knowledge of this fact was almost enough to cause physical pain. He needed some time alone to straighten out his thoughts on this matter.

Having grown up in the Atlantic Federation, Daniel had little love for Coordinators, just like everyone else around him, except for his parents. They always had a somewhat relaxed view regarding this matter and maybe that was the reason Daniel wasn't completely anti-Coordinator. However, he still disliked them. In his opinion, meddling with the genes before the baby was born, unless there was a hereditary disease, was wrong. A mother's womb was holy ground.

On the other hand, Daniel never had many friends. Because of his parents' work, he often had to move, so making long-term friends was difficult. Therefore he highly valued his friendship with Kira and others. It took barely a week after he moved to Heliopolis, for him to be accepted as 'one of the gang'. People like them didn't grow on trees.

These two thoughts waged a furious war between themselves in Daniel's mind. And no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to ignore these thoughts. That's why Daniel tried to focus his mind on something else, anything that would allow him to avoid thinking about this.

After exploring the ship and finding nothing else to do, he finally found solitude in the confines of Pulverizer's cockpit, although Daniel hesitated to call it solitude. The opening in the seat was the reason for that. Every time he pressed his back against it, he remembered the unpleasant feeling he felt when the Muscle Trace system was activated. And while he knew that nothing would happen without him activating it, he still felt slightly uncomfortable with fully reclining against the seat. Fortunately this thought soon disappeared from his mind, as he began his work on cracking the database in the main computer.

Ever since Artemis, Daniel had tried to find his way around the safety system and examine the information inside. His knowledge of computers was quite helpful in completing this task. Despite this, he still had a lot of work to do. The main problem was that the programs were built almost unlike any he knew. But upon much closer inspection, the boy realized that there was something familiar after all. The most fundamental and basic parts were based on a very old code. Daniel recalled reading about programming history and development, where this code was mentioned to be used way back in the Anno Domini era.

_What is such an old code doing in a computer like this? _Daniel pondered, while typing away on the unfolded keyboard. _Breaking such an old program shouldn't be too difficult for me. I just need to use the correct methods. _Now that he knew what he was up against, it was easier to make some progress.A few adjustments to certain programs and the code breaking program began it's work. All he had to do now was to wait for the program to complete the task and then Daniel will be able to inspect whatever information was stored in Pulverzer's computer. The almost ancient security program stood no chance against the modified program Daniel pitted against it. A couple of seconds passed and the security program was defeated, allowing him to access the information it protected.

"Welcome to the database. Please select the file you require." The female voice, Daniel had heard several times before, informed him. In addition a long list of files appeared on the display in front of him. However, before Daniel was able to get a closer look at the list, the voice resounded again. "Warning, 99.8 percent of the information files are corrupt. Reason, unit has been subjected to very high levels of electromagnetic radiation."

"Electromagnetic radiation? Don't these things have EMP shielding?" Daniel frowned while checking out the list. The list was long, very long. Actually too much information this machine would ever need. "Project Utopia. Corporations. Ravens. The Controller. Mission. Great Destruction. What the hell is this?" Daniel read out few of the titles he saw in the list. His confusion grew with every title he read. Finally, he went back to the top of the list and selected 'Project, Utopia'.

"Unable to open file. File is corrupt. Attempting recovery… Recovery failed." Was the immediate response he received. He tried a few other files, but got the same response over and over again.

_Failed. Failed. Is this the only thing you have to say? _The boy gritted his teeth upon once again hearing the negative reply. He began choosing random files, hoping to find some that would be intact and usable. The first one he was able to open was called 'Mission'.

"File 'Mission' selected." The computerized voice began explaining Daniel's chosen file. "The Pulverizer's mission consists of four objectives, set by the Controller in the year of 159 Utopian Era. Core Protocol program is tasked with completion of the mission." Daniel thought it was impossible to pay any more attention to the voice and the computer, as he was already doing, but hearing the strange chronology and mentioning of the Core Protocol made him lean even closer to the display. "One. After the arrival in the Solar system, evaluate the technology development on Earth. Two. Search for any threats similar to the Primal Threat or it's analogue. Three. Search and destroy anything similar to a Primal Threat or it's analogue. Four. After all threats have been removed, provide technological assistance and knowledge contained in the onboard database. Five. Supervise and control the evolution of Earth's populace by restarting and completing project Utopia." By this point Daniel was almost trembling from excitement and a fair amount of fear.

"This is huge!" He gasped, taking in the whole situation. From the sound of things, this machine wasn't built on Earth or in Solar system at all. He was sitting inside what could be rightfully described as an alien robot. _A machine built on another planet… _A sudden thought entered his mind, along dozens of ghostly images from science fiction movies featuring alien invasions. The boy instantly dismissed such ridiculous thoughts. _This machine was built by humans, not some goddamned aliens! _The entire machine proved it. "So the Pulverizer was built by humans to take over the Earth, but why?" That was one thing he couldn't understand. Why would someone from far away want to take over Earth? Daniel took another look at the unnerving objectives. It was amazing how many answers would be answered if those damned files weren't damaged. "And what is this Primal Threat?" He returned to the main menu and began searching for a file with such a name. He was lucky. The file called 'Primal Threat' was the last file he hadn't checked yet. _Please work, please work. _Daniel quietly begged when he selected the file.

"Unable to open file. File is corrupt. Attempting recovery… Partial recovery completed."

"At least a part of it will be legible." Daniel let out a relieved sigh and opened the file. His frown returned when he saw that there was nothing but a single word. The rest was removed by the computer. "Ravens? Who or what, the hell are Ravens? And why are they so dangerous?" Daniel stared at the single word. "C'mon! Who or what are these Ravens? Answer me dammit!" His demand gained no answer from the computer, even when he went back to the list and selected the file called 'Raven', the only reply he received was of the negative sort. He was about to let his anger loose on the machinery, when he heard the Pulverizer's head move. Seconds after that, the hatch above him opened and revealed Chief Murdoch standing next to the hatch.

"Hey kid. Sorry to bother you, but didn't you hear the announcement?" He asked, trying to get a glance at the main display. Daniel noticed his look and turned off the screen.

"What announcement?"

"They want you on the bridge. I think that they have come up with a plan of some sort." Murdoch explained in his gruff voice. "Since you didn't hear it, I decided to let you know."

"Oh … Thanks." Daniel muttered, while climbing out of the cockpit, having made sure that the computer was off. "Did they mention what kind of a plan?"

"No, just that all pilots are needed on the bridge."

"All pilots…" Daniel's voice trailed off for a moment, while an angry scowl briefly appeared on his face, but the boy quickly calmed down. "Never mind that, is my Pulverizer ready to go?"

The older mechanic nodded and walked across the core over to the right side. "Yes, but it took us a lot of effort to repair the damage. Every time we tried to weld it, the armor became much harder to repair, as if it was reacting to heat."

"It is. This armor becomes stronger once it comes into contact with heat or voltage." Daniel recalled his father's words while pushing off in the direction of the elevator.

"Damned bastards, always making my life more difficult." The boy heard Murdoch mutter before he was out of earshot.

Now, when he was more familiar with the ship's layout, it was a lot easier for him to find the bridge. He was surprised by how easy it was to find his way around this ship after spending only a few days on it. It took him only a couple of minutes to reach his destination. When he entered the room, everyone was already there, including Kira. Daniel took a sharp breath when their eyes met, but he didn't say anything, just pretended as if Kira wasn't here. "Sorry I'm late." He made an excuse to Murrue and stood as far from Kira as possible, but still close enough for Murrue and Mu to see him.

"As I was saying, we're heading to the Debris Belt to get some supplies we need." Murrue explained the plan.

"Supplies from the Debris Belt?" Sai was confused, much as everyone else who didn't know about the plan. "How can we do that?"

"Well, about getting them, it's more like taking them ourselves." Mu added, drawing more confused looks from those present.

"Wait! Don't tell me that…"

"That's right. You're a bright one." Mu smiled when Sai realized his idea.

"In the Debris Belt, there are various objects floating in space. It includes destroyed battleships and the like." Murrue continued her explanation.

"Don't tell me that we are going to resupply that way…" Tolle began, but was interrupted by Mu.

"We don't have any other choice. If we don't do this we won't last much longer."

"Now, the reason for why I called you here is to help us." Murrue looked at everyone. "We don't have enough people, so I'm asking you to operate the worker pods."

"I'm not happy about this idea too, but there is no other way." Natarle added in her usual calm voice. "We have to do this, if we want to live on." No one said a thing. They all knew what the Debris Belt contained. It was a more than a junkyard, it was also a graveyard for the battleships' crews and those who lived on Junius Seven. Taking supplies from a place like that was similar to robbing the cemetery and no one could bring himself to do that.

Murrue understood what was going trough everyone's mind. "We're not trying to disturb the dead. Just take the bare minimum of the things we need, so we can survive." She said in a soft voice, trying ease their worries.

None of that really helped when they left the Archangel a few hours later with Kira and Daniel providing cover for the Mistral pods everyone else was piloting. No matter how justified and serious their reasons were, they still felt as if trespassing on sacred territory. No one felt comfortable among these debris. Even the usually talkative Tolle was silent and didn't say a thing. Their uneasiness increased as they ventured deeper into the Debris Belt, towards a massive shape they saw in the distance. Small pieces of rock and metal were replaced by clearly distinguishable pieces of warship hulls and other, similar objects. However, after spotting several agricultural machines floating around, Kira, Daniel and everyone else shared surprised gasps and even a few stifled yells. It soon became clear what was the circular shape they were heading to. Floating among the debris were the remains of the destroyed Junius Seven colony.

"Use the water from there?" Kira exclaimed an hour later when they had returned to the Archangel's bridge, still clad in space suits. "Are you sure?" During the brief exploration of the ruins they had seen several bodies with expressions of shock and fear frozen on their faces. Although everyone knew that the remains of Junius Seven were floating in Debris Belt no one expected that they would actually find it. Even without the bodies, the place was scary enough, that's why the proposal to return to the ship was immediately accepted without any objections.

"That place has about 10 billion tons of frozen water." Natarle pointed out. "We can't go and look somewhere else. We don't have any other options." Kira rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"But you were there yourself. You saw the bodies, Natarle. That PLANT is the resting place of thousands who died there." His friends shared his opinion, but Murrue shook her head.

"I understand how you feel, but like Natarle said, we don't have any other places to search."

"No one is happy about this." Mu added, supporting Murrue. "If it was possible, no one would want to go there. We've got no other choice."

Realizing the logic and seriousness of their cause, the crew returned back to work. But, before they started gathering water, everyone aboard Archangel, even Daniel, agreed to make a small memorial ceremony. Several volunteers helped to make dozens of paper flowers, which Miriallia later tossed over the huge graveyard, while everyone else paid their respects by a moment of silence. The small flowers slowly drifted further away, spreading into a large, colorful cloud. Soon after the ceremony, the salvage operations were underway. Mistral pods, equipped with manipulator arms and saws brought large pieces of ice. Slowly and gradually the pods spread out in order to cover a larger area.

All this time, Kira continued to scout the surrounding area, keeping a lookout for any unwanted guests. While the chances of encountering an enemy were little, he wanted to make sure it was safe, just in case. It also helped him to keep his mind mostly away from more unpleasant things. Things, like Daniel. It was impossible for him to miss Daniel's attitude towards him. The boy acted like Kira was nothing but air. While it was unbearable in some cases, Kira was mostly grateful that he didn't have to experience something worse than being ignored. Judging by Daniel's behavior back in cafeteria Kira expected that he would attempt to do something more hostile. Still, it was too early to come to a conclusion. Kira had a good hunch that Daniel was currently trying to figure out how to deal with him. Ignoring him was only a temporary decision. _I hope that we can be friends again. _Kira observed the bright flare of Pulverizer's boosters far away where Daniel explored area on the other side of the Archangel, it being the furthest distance from Strike.

He decided to do one final sweep over this region before heading off elsewhere. Paying close attention to his long-range sensors, Kira flew Strike to a nearby cluster of large debris, passing one of the Mistral pods in the process. They turned out to be large pieces of rock that had broken off from the destroyed colony. "Hmm … nothing, but pieces of rock." Kira inspected his surroundings. He was about to head back, when he noticed a destroyed ship floating among the debris. While a destroyed ship was nothing unusual in this part of space, there being several other destroyed vessels in his view, it was it's design and lack of weaponry that caught Kira's eye. "A civilian ship?" The main screen zoomed in on the wreck. "Has it been shot down?"

His inspection was cut short when a Mobile Suit emerged from behind of the ship. Kira wasted little time hiding behind the closest cover he could find. While staying mostly behind the cover, he dared to keep the ZAFT's machine in sight and do a quick scan. "Reconnaissance type GINN? What's it doing out here?" He continued to cautiously observe the GINN, which appeared to be interested in the destroyed ship as well. "If it find the Archangel, we'll be in trouble." Kira realized the potential danger. He took a careful aim with his target scope, ready to fire if the enemy made any kind of a suspicious move. "Go." Kira lightly tapped the trigger. "Just go away!" He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his weapon when the GINN, apparently done with the inspection, slowly moved away from the ship and began to leave this area. Unfortunately, Kira's sigh was premature, because one of the Mistrals, the very same Kira passed on his way here, passed in front of him, hauling a huge load or retrieved supplies. "No, don't…" Kira tried to warn the pilots, but it was too late. The GINN's sensors quickly picked up the pod's heat emission and the Mobile Suit turned around to address this new contact.

"Idiot! Why did you have to see it?" Kira exclaimed and lined up his rifle. He knew what he had to do, but he couldn't. "I gotta …" His finger trembled over the trigger, but Kira was unable to make the last and most important move. Not even when the Mobile Suit aimed it's sniper rifle at the worker pod, it's occupants scared to death, Kira hesitated to fire. Only when the first round from GINN's sniper rifle struck the salvaged supplies, sending destroyed remains in every direction, did Kira force himself to press the trigger. The first beam cleanly took off the GINN's left arm. While certainly damaged, the ZAFT's Mobile Suit was still a threat, as it rised it's rifle again, this time at Kira. Two more shots from the beam rifle struck the machine's midsection, causing it to go up in flames.

Gasping for air, Kira released the controls and clenched his hands. He understood that the GINN had left him no choice, but the needless destruction still pained him. The relieved messages from his friends barely registered in his mind, still, he shut off the radio and pounded his fists against the panel in desperation. A moment later, series of beeps made him look up at the main screen.

An object was drifting in the distance. He magnified the image and realized what it was. "An escape pod?" What was an escape pod doing here was beyond him, but he strongly suspected that the escape pod had to do something with the destroyed ship. Just like back at Heliopolis, Kira didn't hesitate to decide whether to retrieve the life pod or not. In truth, there was only one option for him. With a decisive movement, Strike holstered the rifle and moved to retrieve the escape pod.

xxxxx

"Looks like you really like to pick up things." Natarle stated as she observed the escape pod, Kira had recovered during his exploration of Junius Seven. Kira shrugged it off and continued to stare at the recovered object. And not only Natarle and Murrue were there. Since it was impossible to continue with the salvage operation while they hadn't opened the escape pod, almost everyone had gathered at the hangar, eager to find out who or what was inside the small shuttle. Chief Murdoch was already working at the manual lock, trying to override it and open the hatch. As a precautionary measure, Murrue ordered several guards to be ready, just in case.

"Okay, I'm opening it now." Murdoch warned everyone and entered the last commands. The pod hissed, releasing the air, which was inside it and the hatch slowly opened. Kira tried to see what was inside, but his, and everyone else's, attention, was claimed by a small, round robot, that left the pod's interior and floated towards the small and confused group.

"Hello, hello." The strange toy greeted them in a playful voice.

"Thank you for helping me." A soft and kind voice said. All eyes turned back to the escape pod. The second passenger was a young girl with unusually long, pink hair.

* * *

**DoomsdeviceX - **Yes, this story was originally meant as an "improved" version of Another War, however, as I continued to develop and expand the plot, more and more original ideas were replaced or discarded. As of now, this story will have little in common with Another War, except for small and minor details. All in all, this story will follow the original Gundam Seed plot with few minor changes, which will be crucial for the stories yet to come. All I can reveal about them now is that, other than the canon characters, they will have practically nothing to do with Gundam Seed: Destiny.

P.S. No, the Holy Followers Union aren't the bad guys. But don't worry, there is always another enemy...


	8. Change of plans

"Hello, hello. Lacus." The strange toy spoke again, interrupting the confused silence that had fallen across the hangar, as everyone stared at the strange girl.

The girl, whose name everyone assumed was Lacus, floated in the air, unable to get to the ground, since she had nowhere to hold on to. At least until Kira reached out and helped her to get down. "Thank you, I …" The girl began, but her voice trailed off, when she noticed the OMNI Enforcer insignia on Kira's uniform. "Oh, my…" She glanced at others, realizing that everyone had the same insignia on their uniforms. "This isn't a ZAFT ship isn't it?" The girl suddenly looked slightly bewildered.

Her expression was shared by Kira and many others. No one really had any idea who would be inside the escape pod, but a young girl certainly wasn't among the most popular guesses. "Um … No." Kira finally managed to regain his voice. He continued to stare at the strange girl, unable to look anywhere else and neither to think any coherent thoughts. The girl was beautiful, that was certain, but there was something else about her, something that caused him to blush and feel unlike he had ever felt before.

"I think we should continue this conversation somewhere more appropriate." Murrue suggested. Plainly this girl could tell them several interesting things. Things too sensitive to reveal in the hangar.

xxxxx

"It seems you were right, Viktor." A blond man in his early thirties said, while looking at the wall-mounted displays in front of him. Usually they were used for videoconferences, but today they showed various images of what seemed to be a very large object. "Although I shouldn't be surprised. Your information sources have always been accurate."

A huge, round shape, approximately three kilometers in diameter, was attached to a column, stretching at least two kilometers long and roughly half a kilometer in diameter. The whole object looked a lot like a mushroom. However, the object was bigger than any mushroom Azrael had ever seen. At the bottom of the column there were four protrusions, each pointing in a different direction. Azrael strongly suspected that they were used by spaceships to dock with the station, or whatever that thing was.

Viktor glimpsed from behind his desk at the screens and shrugged, letting the compliment pass by ignored. He was doing his job, nothing more. Azrael turned around, holding one of the reports that lay scattered on Viktor's desk, in hand as he studied the information regarding the unknown object. Or rather, unknown to most of the world. "When did this …" He glanced in the document. "… Circ-City, appeared?"

"Our astronomers picked it up during the night from the 3rd to 4th date. It appeared about four hundred thousand kilometers away from Earth between the third and fourth Lagrange point and is currently approaching Earth." Viktor explained. "Shortly afterwards, one of my old contacts in SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) informed me that they picked up a lot of radio signals coming from it." Meanwhile Azrael was studying another one of the various reports. Suddenly this whole situation was very, very interesting.

"And what do we know about … them." He said once he had quickly looked trough the report. While he could simply read the reports and find out for himself, he decided to let Viktor inform him, because Viktor was the one who made those reports.

On the other side of the desk, Viktor took a deep breath. "Well, sir. According to our recently obtained information, we are looking at the legacy of Project Utopia. The details are quite sketchy, since all records about it were lost during the Reconstruction War. But what is know that this project was begun at one point during the AD era, when several nations tried to create a drive which would enable a ship to travel faster than light. I couldn't find out more about these experiments, but it seems that they were successful."

"Viktor, I don't need a history lesson, tell me about the station." Azrael interrupted and sat down on the couch.

"Yes, sorry, sir. Circ-City was built by a corporation known as Navis under the supervision of something or someone known as the Controller. What or who is this Controller, I do not know. All I do know is than the Controller was supposed to be in charge of the whole project. Once again the information was too damaged, but somehow an organization who called itself the Union ended up in control of Circ-City and it remained in their possession until the Great Destruction."

"Great Destruction?" Azrael arched his eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be some kind of a conflict?" Viktor nodded agreement.

"Actually yes. Great Destruction is apparently a name for a nuclear war, which is the reason why Circ-City is here right now. As for the Union, it looks like they were destroyed by … let me see." He paused and picked checked the report Azrael had previously passed his eyes over. "Mirage. It's another one of the corporations. I don't know what is their problem, but these corporations seem to hate each other just like Earth hates PLANTs. Right now, Circ-City is controlled by at least three corporations. Mirage, Crest Industries and Kisaragi."

"Interesting." Azrael smirked and steepled his fingers. "This is very fortunate. Tell me, do PLANTs know about this?"

"Not likely, sir. Circ-City appeared in a mostly isolated area and N-jammers aren't making detection any easier. Of course they will eventually find it, but right now, we are the only ones, who know about this … Um, sir, do you have a plan?" Viktor noticed a wide grin cross Azrael's face.

His boss didn't reply immediately, mind being busy working out a plan that would be favorable for Blue Cosmos. After a few more minutes the leader of Blue Cosmos stood up and approached the displays, he'd observed earlier. "I need you to prepare a report about everything you have found out during these last months. The report doesn't have to contain sensitive information, just enough to inform the President and his advisors about the situation. I'll make sure that the diplomatic envoys are dispatched as soon as possible. We must establish diplomatic connections with the corporations before PLANTs do. When you have completed the report you will go to Panama." Azrael turned to face the Colonel and continued, before the other man could ask for an explanation. "You'll be joining the envoys, since you know more about our guests than anyone else." For a second, Viktor thought about objecting or recommending someone else, but the thought vanished immediately. There were two reasons for that. First, Azrael was his boss and the boss's orders were indisputable. Second, no one else was suited for the job.

"Very well, sir. But may I suggest that we prepare a backup plan?" Viktor said, keeping away the unpleasant thoughts regarding this matter, by briefly thinking about the unfinished bottle in his desk.

"Like what?"

"Additional firepower if things go south. 8th fleet, for example. If we bring Halberton's fleet with us, we will have enough strength to occupy Circ-City if the corporations refuse to cooperate."

Azrael considered the advice before nodding approval. Afterwards, both men glanced one last time at the frozen images of Circ-City before getting to work. Both knew that Circ-City held new opportunities, new partners and allies and finally - new enemies.

xxxxx

Meanwhile, completely unaware of the unexpected events, people in charge of Archangel, namely Murrue, Natarle and Mu, were busy with slightly less important matters. Like finding out something more about the strange girl they'd rescued. The "interrogation" took place in one of the many Archangel's unoccupied rooms.

"My name is Lacus Clyne. And this is my friend Haro." She lifted the small robot, so that everyone could get a better look at it. The robot pet let out verbiage of greetings, which mainly consisted of words like 'hello', 'Haro' and 'Lacus'. Something that Murrue found quite amusing.

"Hmm… Clyne, huh? If I remember correctly the current High Councilor of PLANTs is called Siegel Clyne." Mu recalled.

"Ah, Siegel Clyne is my father." Lacus instantly replied when Mu mentioned her father. "Do you know him?" The blond man slowly shook his head. There was no way he could know the High Councilor of PLANTs.

Natarle and Murrue were quite surprised when they found out who exactly this girl was. They had rescued the High Councilor's daughter. Things were becoming very interesting. "Please tell us, how did you end up here in the Debris Belt?" Murrue asked the question that bothered her most. Probably she wasn't the only one concerned about this, because she could sense others eagerly awaiting Lacus's answer.

"I came here to do a preparatory audit for the memorial ceremony in Junius Seven. Soon, after we arrived, we encountered Earth Alliance ships. Even though we told them that we were a civilian ship, they insisted on inspecting our ship. After the inspectors arrived, they seemed to be very upset about our reason to be here and it eventually turned into a quarrel inside our ship. Then the people who were around me put me into the escape pod."

"And what happened to your ship after that?" Mu wanted to find out more about the unfortunate ship.

Lacus shook her head. "I don't know, but I hope that the Earth Alliance has calmed down since then."

However, Murrue didn't place much hope in that. The Alliance was becoming more and more jumpy lately, as did ZAFT. Both sides knew that the war had reached a stalemate and therefore they were on the lookout for any suspicious activity, which could tip the balance of power and allowed one side to regain the initiative. Right now even simple, ordinary accidents were seen as deliberate acts of sabotage. The girl in front of her was just an innocent victim of the same suspicion and mistrust that was partially to blame for the incident in Artemis. _I think most of us need some time to calm down and stop blaming the other side for every little thing. _

Only then Murrue realized that the room was completely silent. Natarle and Mu seemed to had run out of questions and were probably thinking about what to do with Lacus. Lacus herself was politely waiting for any other questions that might arise. But for now, it looked like the conversation was mostly over. "Thank you for answering our questions." Murrue stood up and called one of the crewmembers via the intercom, before looking at the girl again. "I'll have someone to escort you to your room." She explained and gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, you're not a prisoner."Lacus gave a relieved smile and stood up.

"Thank you, you are very kind." She said and slightly bowed.

"And I thought we had solved our problems." Mu allowed a good deal of astonishment and confusion in his voice, as soon as Lacus was gone and the three of them were alone in the room. "We barely got rid of one problem and a new one gets handed to us. This time the pink-haired princess." He sat down on one of the beds and ran his hand trough his hair. "I guess there's no end to our worries, eh?"

Murrue couldn't help but to agree. They were running into new problems as soon as they took care of the old ones. "I don't think that we have any other choice than to bring her with us to the Moon HQ."

"We don't have any other choice, do we?"

"But what will happen to her once we bring her to the Moon HQ? Even though she is a civilian…" Murrue was concerned about what could happen to Lacus.

"Well, they'll probably give her a big welcome. She's the High Councilor's daughter after all. There are many ways we can use her."

That last sentence earned a frown from Murrue. "If possible, I don't want to let that happen to her. To a civilian … and such a young girl."

"If you say that, what about those guys?" Natarle suddenly cut in. "Ones that have been helping us since Heliopolis. They are civilian children as well."

"Ensign Badgiruel, that's because…" But Murrue was cut off before she could come up with an explanation.

"Although inevitable, you made Kira Yamato and others participate in the war. And now you just don't want that girl involved. Is that what you are saying?" Natarle's almost challenging gaze was firmly fixed on Murrue, something the other woman might find as offensive, if there weren't a great deal of truth in Natarle's words. Mu also seemed to be agreeing with the black haired Ensign, since he didn't say a word. "That girl is Clyne's daughter." She continued when Murrue didn't answer. "That means she isn't any ordinary civilian. That, is a fact."

"I know, Natarle. But using people from a neutral colony is different than using someone, who is considered and enemy." Murrue replied and went towards the doors; it meant that this conversation was over.

xxxxx

Miriallia looked at him, but Daniel vigorously shook his head, denying or refusing everything before the girl even managed to ask. "Fine." She sighed and looked at Flay. "Maybe you could bring it to her?" But Flay's answer was pretty much the same.

"No way."

"Flay!"

"I said no!" Flay repeated and glared at Daniel, who immediately pretended to be extremely busy observing the vending machine across the cafeteria from where he was sitting behind one of the tables.

"What's wrong with you people? Why not?" Miriallia asked at the same time Kira entered the cafeteria, attracted by the rather loud conversation between the two girls.

He approached Kuzzey who was standing closet to him, between both tables and observing the same debate that had drawn Kira. "What's wrong?"

"It's Flay." Kuzzey replied just as quietly as Kira had addressed him. "Mir wants Flay to bring some food for that Coordinator girl, but Flay said no."

Meanwhile, without noticing Kira's presence, Flay continued the conversation. "I don't want to. I'm not going anywhere near a Coordinator."

"Flay!" Miriallia exclaimed and flicked her eyes at Kira.

Only then Flay noticed the new arrival and realized what she was saying. "Oh, of course that doesn't include Kira." She said, apologetically glancing at Kira before focusing her attenton on Miriallia. "But that girl is from ZAFT right?" Her voice became thoughtful. "A Coordinator isn't just smart, they also have excellent reflexes. What happens if something goes wrong?" She once again looked at Kira, as if expecting him to confirm her words. Kira just blinked in surprise.

"I don't think that girl will attack you." Kuzzey said doubtfully.

Flay snorted. "You don't know that. You can't tell from looks what a Coordinator can really do. I mean, what if she's really strong?"

"My, who is really strong?" A soft voice sounded from the entrance, startling everyone. When they saw exactly who was standing in the doorway, more gasps sounded across the room. It turned out to be Lacus Clyne. She noticed the bemused looks everyone gave her. "Ah, I'm sorry if I surprised you. But I got thirsty. Also, please don't laugh at me, but I am very hungry as well." She said and noticed the vending machine. "Is this the cafeteria? I'd be happy if I could get something to eat." Lacus walked across the room, towards the bar.

"How did you get out of your room?" Kuzzey gasped, staring at her as if she was a ghost. "They didn't lock your room?"

Flay reacted a bit more harshly. "I don't understand. Why is a ZAFT girl walking around the ship without permission." Unlike Kuzzey, who was genuinely surprised and flatfooted, just like Kira and Miriallia were. Flay's voice had a hostile tone to it. While Daniel was completely silent and was closely observing Lacus with a fair amount of disdain evident in his scowl.

"Oh, I didn't get out without permission." Lacus replied in the same friendly voice. Either she ignored the unfriendly looks some people gave her or she simply didn't notice them. "I asked, while I was inside the room "Is it okay for me to leave the room?" I did that three times." She explained. "And I don't belong to ZAFT. ZAFT is the name for the army. It is officially known as the Zodiac Alliance of Fre…"

"You're all the same!" Flay snapped, cutting off Lacus in mid word. "You're all Coordinators."

"We are not the same. Although I am a Coordinator, I'm not military personnel." She paused for a moment to scrutinize Flay's clothes. "You're not part of the military either, right? If so, then we are the same." She extended her hand. "Sorry for the late greeting. My name is…" But once again she was cut off by Flay, who seemed to have gotten angrier due to Lacus saying that they were the same.

"I don't want it. Stop it!' The girl snapped and stepping away from Lacus as if she was an abomination. "Why do I have to shake your hand. You're a Coordinator! Don't act like we can be friends!"

These words, spoken with outright hate, anger and some amount of fear, had a lot stronger impact than the intended insult. If anything at all, Lacus's reaction was among the most placid of all. She only fell silent and gave a barely perceptible frown. While she hadn't expected such attitude from people who seemed to be a lot friendlier than those who destroyed the Silverwind, thanks to the pleasant conversation with Murrue, a small part of her mind told her that there were various kinds of people on Archangel. There were bound to be someone, who harbored a greater amount of animosity towards Coordinators.

Most Coordinators Lacus knew would be offended by Flay's words. No one liked to be looked down upon. However, Lacus was a diplomatic person and therefore, instead of replying with insults, she didn't say anything.

Kira, Miriallia and Kuzzey were shocked. Neither one of them was aware of Flay's hatred towards Coordinators. Maybe not being aware wasn't the right way to put it, but they certainly didn't expect such direct and open dislike, like the one Flay treated Lacus with. All three of them shot nervous and shocked looks at the girl.

Daniel's reaction was the most peaceful one. The boy silently stood up and went towards the doors, uttering a barely audible curse before leaving the room. To whom the curse was addressed to, no one could tell. Besides everyone was too focused on Flay to even notice Daniel leaving them.

Despite being taken aback by Flay's words, Kira decided to do something in order to prevent the current situation from escalating any further. Moving past Flay, who was still shooting angry glares at Lacus, Kira picked up the food tray and beckoned Lacus to follow him. "Please, follow me." The faster he got Lacus away from Flay, the less trouble there would be. Fortunately, Flay seemed to be satisfied with Lacus leaving the cafeteria, because she didn't say anything else, as Kira led Lacus back to the crew quarters.

"I have to stay here, don't I?" Lacus said when they reached her room a few minutes later.

Kira placed the food tray on the small table and nodded. "Yeah, it seems to be that way." With a silent sigh of slight discontent Lacus sat down on the nearby chair.

"This is boring. I'm alone all the time even though I want to talk with everyone."

"This is an Earth Alliance ship. And there are people who … don't like Coordinators." Kira explained, recalling the scene in cafeteria. "Besides, we're now at war …"

"What a pity." Lacus tilted her head and smiled. "But you are very kind. Thank you."

"Oh, well it's … because I'm a Coordinator too." Kira stammered a little when he saw Lacus's smile.

"But the reason you are kind is because you are a kind person yourself." Lacus said. "Could you please tell me your name?"

"It's Kira. Kira Yamato."

"Thank you Kira, thank you very much." Lacus smiled again, when she saw the boy blush.

xxxxx

Moments later, when Kira left the room, he nearly bumped into Say, who was passing the room at the same time. "Kira, there you are." Sai said while Kira closed the doors, it turned out that he was actually looking for Kira. "Listen, I heard from Mir what happened at the cafeteria … Don't worry about that too much." He clapped on Kira's shoulder when he noticed the dispirited look on his friend's face. "I'll talk to Flay afterwards." Kira was about to answer, but was interrupted a song, sung in a soft and peaceful voice reached his ears. Apparently Sai could also hear the song, because he fell silent and stared at the door. "Is that girl singing?" He asked after a while, during which they both listened to the song. "Such a beautiful voice. But I guess that is to be expected with all the gene manipulation." He added and turned to leave. "Let's go and have a bite to eat, Kira." Sai suggested and left, without noticing the painful look that briefly crossed Kira's face.

xxxxx

On the bridge, everything was more or less peaceful. The initial commotion, caused by Lacus's rescue few days ago eventually died down and the crew had every rights to feel bored again. Of course no one complained about it, because being simply bored was much better than being chased and attacked by ZAFT. At least that's what Romero Pal thought while he sipped his drink and perused the communications network. They were traveling for several days now and with each passing moment the chances of being found by friendly forces increased.

Romero had no doubts that the EA was searching for the Archangel. The ship was too valuable to lose and the two machines it carried were crucial for the Alliance to even the odds. At least the Strike was. Romero still didn't know what to think about the Pulverizer. He had seen it a couple of times, mostly when it left the ship or landed. And since he rarely went to the hangar, the only time he saw it up close was when Daniel brought that thing to the Archangel the first time.

However, there was only one thing that he was curious about. How did that boy, Daniel, was able to pilot it, especially during the salvage operation on Junius Seven, if he wasn't a Coordinator. There were some rumors going around that Daniel might also be a Coordinator, but they quickly died down after the incident in cafeteria. Only to be replaced with stories about the pilot being filled with countless needles and other gadgets and was forced to suffer excruciating pain. _Yeah, right. _Whenever he heard those stories Romero had to hold back his laughter. Sometimes people came up with the silliest things. He wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that the Pulverizer had a different control system than the one used in Strike.

It was at this time that fate or some other divine being decided to bring him back to the here and now. The console, Romero had been staring at with a distant look, let out a short beep and brought up an incoming data stream. "Huh?" Romero blinked and realized that he was supposed to be working. He quickly released the half-empty bottle and began to analyze the signal. "Captain … I'm receiving a message." He called, his eyes not leaving the display for a moment. "It looks like it's from the Alliance forces."

Murrue, having heard the communications officer, left her chair and moved towards him. "Alliance? Are you sure?" She looked at the display, barely noticing Natarle, who had also left her post, standing on the other side of the chair.

"I'm not mistaken. This is the secret code pulse from the Earth Alliance 8th fleet."

"Can you translate it?"

"One moment … there."

"This is … battleship … 8th fleet … Montgomery … Archangel … hear me?" It was difficult to make out the message due to the N-jammers, but the idea was clear.

"It's the fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Halberton." Murrue said cheerfully while most of the bridge crew gathered around them to get a glimpse on the message themselves.

"They are looking for us." Even Neumann left his post, as the mood on the bridge increased exponentially.

"They are still quite a distance away, but it won't be long until we meet up with them." Romero smiled. It was hard not to. These were the best news in a long while. The Archangel was practically home free.

xxxxx

News about the rendezvous with the advance force spread trough the ship at blinding speed. Barely a few hours later it was impossible not to notice the relief and excitement in the air. Wherever there were several people, one could easily hear gleeful voices talking about the coming event. The joyful mood spread across the ship like a plague, utterly ruining Daniel's mood. It wasn't that the conversations all around him were getting on his nerves, he himself felt relieved by the fact that this whole thing was almost over. However, whenever he thought of that or overheard a conversation, which made him think about the rendezvous, his thoughts soon reminded him about the mysteries surrounding the Pulverizer and the Core Protocol inside the disk he had begun to carry around with him. Eventually it also made him to wonder about his future.

Absentmindedly roaming the Archangel's hallways and corridors, Daniel took stock of his situation. He was certain that EA would take the Muscle Tracer away from him, since it obviously belonged to them, more or less. Daniel would also have to hand over the disk, since it also wasn't his. Usually he'd have no qualms about this, but lately he'd become very curious about the Pulverizer and he wanted to find out more about its origins. _Maybe they will allow me to continue my research … Sure they will. _The pessimistic side of him spoke. _A teenage student doing research on highly classified military equipment. As if that would ever happen. Hmmm, that might be true, but what if I joined the military? It's not like I have anything left to lose. _The thought, while uncomfortable did posses a fair amount of logic. With his parents dead and remaining relatives being so distant as to be safely considered nonexistent, Daniel was on his own. And knowing that the military usually took care of its own soldiers, left Daniel thinking more and more about volunteering for the armed forces. _Besides, where else I will get the chance to kill Coordinators?_

Too caught up in his thoughts to notice his surroundings, Daniel typed in the open command in the door controls and stepped in what he'd thought was the room he shared with his friends. He thought wrong. It took him a second to realize that he had entered the wrong cabin. The room was designed for two people, judging by the number of beds and, despite being roughly the same size as the cabin he usually occupied this one looked more spacious. _Officer's quarters. _The single thought made wonders elucidating the situation.

Standing near the entrance, his back facing the doors and one leg half-raised, awaiting orders from the now-frozen mind to continue its path deeper into the room, Daniel experienced something of a chilling shock when he realized that he wasn't alone. He glanced to his right and noticed a girl sitting at the desk and a round toy in front of her.

Even in this confusing moment a small part of Daniel's mind began working, gathering information about the girl. _Long, pink hair … very long, unusual, but nice. Lilac eyes. Whitish skin, but not sickly pale, definitely attractive. Weight … sixty, no fifty … eight, yes, fifty eight. Looks like sixteen, maybe seventeen years old. _In a speed that rivaled a high-speed computer, Daniel's mind analyzed few details of the girl's body. _Sixteen. And her body is hot, curvy and everything. Let's see, her size probably is …_

"Can I help you?" Lacus cautiously asked.

"Thirty fou…" Daniel shook his head, interrupting the line of thoughts that had earned him many slaps in the past, when some inappropriate thoughts were said out loud. "I mean, no. I just … Hey, you're that Coordinator girl from the cafeteria." He recalled. Almost immediately he remembered that he severely disliked Coordinators, but the previous thoughts still had a fairly strong control over him and his hate was unable to reach usual levels. "The one we found on the life pod."

Lacus arched her eyebrows when Daniel said 'that Coordinator girl', but other than that she paid it no attention. "Yes, my name is Lacus Clyne, pleased to meet you."

_Damned fucking Patchworker! _"Um, I'm Daniel, Daniel Stokes." _But she looks so damned hot! _The different types of thoughts conflicted with each other, nearly causing Daniel's mind to go haywire. He was barely able to speak, much less take any action. It took an ungodly amount of will just to lower his leg and judging from that, leaving the room, especially with the doors now closed, was impossible.

Lacus watched in bemusement at her guest, as she stood up. Just like Kira, Daniel had difficulties talking to her, something, which caused her to smile. "Is everything alright, Daniel?"

"No, I'm … Yes, yes, everything is fine. I had lots of things on my mind and didn't see where I was going." The reply was more relaxed than the previous one he was slowly regaining control.

"Really? Maybe I can help you?"

_Why should I need your help?_ Daniel thought, before he realized that he was already saying something. "No, I don't think so, because some people, similar to you, are the reason for my problems in the first place."

Lacus took a step backwards, her concern increasing. "Sorry, I didn't know."

Suddenly, he felt an irresistible urge to make the girl in front of him feel maybe as bad as he was currently feeling. Maybe it was because the girl seemed to care about others and he needed someone to know about his misery, or maybe it was because he wanted to get rid of a part of his anger by insulting someone else. It didn't matter which reason was it. Conjuring a grin, which was almost loathsome he looked Lacus in the eyes.

"No, don't worry about that. How could you have known? In fact, I think that I will tell you what bothers me; maybe you can help me after all. I'll start with the least important one. I recently acquired a top secret equipment and was asked to deliver it to someone important, but I've become interested in finding out more about the machine and don't know what to do or how will I be able to unravel its secrets, as the military will surely take it away. Another problem of mine is that my parents, who were researching the same machine I have now, by the way, are DEAD. Killed in the attack on Heliopolis, when some people, who just had to stick their noses into other people's business, decided to turn the whole fucking colony into a warzone. And here's one little thing, those bastards turned out to be Coordinators, just like you are, so don't be offended if I say something bad about you freaks. Oh, and wait, here's the best part. You'll love it! My best friend turned out to be a Coordinator. I mean how funny is that! I even saved the guy's ass, only to find out later that he had told everyone else I knew, that he was a Coordinator, but leaving me in the dark. Now, please, if you can, use your superior Coordinator brain and tell me how to solve this little problem, because I have no fucking idea how to solve this mess." Daniel was panting from the unexpected outburst.

By now he was once again fully in control of his body and mind, but despite the furious rage that was building up in him, ordering him to make Lacus feel even worse, Daniel stood still with gritted teeth and his hands behind his back, gripping each other so tightly, Daniel could almost hear the bones crack. _Even if she is a Coordinator, she is a girl! _This single thought was the only thing keeping him in place.

Lacus could only stare at the boy in front of her, as she recollected her thoughts. There was so much pain in his words that it almost felt like a physical blow. There were also a lot of other emotions, anger and confusion, to name a few, but pain was among the strongest emotions, which pervaded every word Daniel said. "Daniel, I know that nothing I will say will ease your suffering." She said in a quiet voice. "But, please believe me when I say that I'm sorry about your parents ... I know how it feels to lose someone you love." Daniel felt his anger weaken; sympathy was the last thing he expected to hear. "I know it because I also once lost someone who was very dear to me." Lacus felt a wave of sadness, when she remembered her mother, who had died when she was little.

"Y-you have?" By now Daniel was no longer angry at her. Of course, he still was upset and wanted to let out his anger on someone or something, but not at Lacus. For a second he experienced a sense of kinship with the girl. Her words from earlier were true, they weren't that different. Both had lost someone. His gaze slowly traveled across the room, when he felt the sting of conscience. This girl only wanted to help him, yet he'd gone and said those things to her. "Yeah … whatever. Forget what I said." He risked a glance at her, before turning around and leaving the room. Lacus was still standing in the same spot and the distant look in her sad eyes told Daniel that his words had ripped up old wounds in the girl's heart.

xxxxx

"The arrival of our fleet at the rendezvous point is going according to schedule." David Kofman, Captain in charge of the advance force, announced. "After your arrival, Archangel will be placed under our command."

"Understood." Murrue replied. "However, there might be a problem with the transmitted coordinates, because when we checked them, they seemed to be on a strange course." Everyone who had seen the coordinates shared her concern and confusion. They were way off their current course, as if the 8th fleet was heading somewhere else.

David shook his head. "I understand your confusion, but the coordinates are correct. I can't reveal the details, but all I can say is that there has been a change in our plans. The 8th fleet has been asked to escort the 11th fleet on a very important mission. That is all I can say." Murrue nodded, while trying to hold back the surprised frown.

"Excuse me for asking, but isn't Archangel supposed to return to the Moon HQ?"

"I understand your concern about the safety of your ship, but as I said plans have changed, our fleet is tasked with escorting the 11th fleet, before we can continue our original mission. Don't worry, as far as I know, this unexpected event won't take long. Hang in there. Once we return to the fleet we'll be completely safe." Captain Kofman assured.

Before Murrue or David could say something, another voice spoke. "I'm sure that Admiral Halberton will inform you about our mission once we meet up with the fleet. I am the Vice-Minister of the Atlantic Federation, George Allster." The image of a man in his late thirties or early forties appeared, sitting next to Captain Kofman, clad in a beige business suit. "First of all, I would like to thank you for helping the civilians. Oh, and …" A kind and grateful smile crossed his face. "I was pleasantly surprised to find my daughter's name in the list of rescued civilians." His words caused a great deal of bewilderment from most people on the bridge. Sai, being Flay's fiancé was the only one, who kept a straight face. "If it is possible I would like to see her."

"Sir, you will be able to see her after we rendezvous with the Archangel." Captain Kofman objected.

"Flay's father, he is always like that." Sai quietly commented, as Captain Kofman ended the transmission.

xxxxx

As it turned out, Archangel and the advance force weren't the only ships in the area. Silently following the white ship, Vesalius had postponed its supposed search for Lacus, favoring a juicier target. Rau Le Creuset, the same man who had ordered the ship's Captain, to head after Archangel, stood on the bridge near the desk, whose built-in display, showed a map of the surrounding area. Across the desk stood Athrun and four other pilots who were assigned to assist them in this mission.

"This is the projected route of the Earth Alliance fleet. Our target, the Archangel, is attempting to meet up with an advance force, before rejoining the main fleet." Rau Le Creuset pointed at the map, where a large cluster of icons represented EA forces and a two other separate groups, one being the advance group and the other being Archangel, were proceeding on a converging route with each other. "If we attack them now, we can take out the advance force before it has a chance to supply the Archangel."

"Attack the Archangel?" Athrun asked incredulously. "Sir, we are supposed…"

"I know, Athrun, but if we pass on this opportunity, Archangel is as good as gone for us." Rau interrupted calmly. "If we allow the advance force to send supplies to Archangel, that ship will become too much of a threat for us to handle alone. And if we wait for Laconey and Polt teams to rendezvous with us, it will be too late." Rau explained the situation and looked Athrun in the eyes, or so Athrun thought, it was impossible to say with the mask the Commander always wore. A few seconds later, Rau looked at the Captain and ordered. "Prepare for attack. We can't allow the advance force to reach the Archangel."

xxxxx

"I have three ships on radar." Romero announced. "Escort ships Montgomery, Bernard and Law." Chorused laughs sounded across the bridge, when some of the more emotional members of the crew expressed their relief. Romero was about to join them too, when all three ships disappeared from the radar, static briefly replacing the radar's image. "Hmm, this is…" Romero mused, attempting to restore the radar. "The radar is being jammed! It looks like the source is nearby." As expected the laughter instantly died down and dreadful silence took its place. It seemed that the ship was cursed, as it constantly kept running into new problems.

xxxxx

ZAFT's attack didn't go unnoticed on Kofman's ships either. Their long-range sensors were knocked out at the same time as Archangel's; by the time the advance force located the enemy it was too late to run. They had to no other choice than to fight. "Hurry up with the Mobile Armors! Prepare anti-beam charges and open all missile hatches!" Captain Kofman barked one order after another, while his crew struggled to keep up.

"Incoming heat sources detected. They're Mobile Suits! Five of them."

"What the hell is going on!" George Allster was fretting. "Why didn't we notice the enemy ship earlier?" Kofman was spared from answering him, when four GINNS opened up with their recoilless rifles, bombarding the advance force with anti-armor shells. Although fired from very long range and therefore being wildly inaccurate, each round still held the potential to cause severe damage if it hit.

"Evasive maneuvers! Stern up, thirty degrees! Roll to port, twenty degrees!" He ordered his helmsman. A second later the ship trembled when its thrusters changed the course, knocking George Allster out from his chair and onto the Captain. "Send a message to Archangel telling them to withdraw!" The Captain said, pushing the other man off of him.

"What!?" George exclaimed as soon as he regained his stance.

David gave him an impatient look. "Then what do you suggest we do now? We don't have any other choice than to send the Archangel away."

"Yes, but if we do that won't it make this entire trip futile?"

"If that ship is destroyed it will be even more futile." Captain Kofman replied at the same time when ZAFT's Mobile Suits smashed their way into their position and began shooting down Mobile Armors and showering the three ships with precise and deadly fire.

xxxxx

"Battle detected in front. It's the advance party! They are being attacked by ZAFT."

"Message from Montgomery." Romero added. "Rendezvous is cancelled. Orders are to withdraw immediately."

"How strong is the opposition?" Murrue instantly asked after receiving the reports from her crew.

"One Nazca class and a team of Mobile Suits… Four GINNS and … Aegis!" The sensor operator almost jumped in his seat when he received the information about the fifth Mobile Suit.

"That means it's the same Nazca class." Murrue murmured, her mind already busy, trying to come up with a solution. "Even if we withdraw now, there is no guarantee that we will be able to escape." She mused and finally made up her mind. "All hands, Level 1 battle alert! The Archangel will move ahead to support the advance force."

xxxxx

"All hands, Level 1 battle alert! I repeat, all hands, Level 1 battle alert!" The announcement resounded across the entire ship, frightening several civilians with its volume. Every crewmember quickly rushed to man their stations and prepared for battle. Kira was one of those who were off-duty at that time and was about to get some sleep when the announcement changed his plans. Still buttoning up his jacket he left his cabin and ran for the elevator. He had to get to the Strike as soon as possible.

However, he only made a few steps, before he noticed that one of the doors opened and a pink robot toy left the cabin. Almost immediately he noticed Lacus who followed her pet robot out. _She got out again?_ Kira skidded to a halt.

"What's going on? The ship has suddenly become so rowdy." Lacus asked, when Kira approached her.

"We've entered battle alert." Kira quickly explained, puzzled why the doors weren't locked. He was certain that he had locked them when he left. "Please, get inside." He said, gently pushing Lacus back inside the room and examined the door controls. "What's with this door's key? I'm sure I locked them." The pink robot excitedly bounced up and down, constantly repeating its name, as if trying to tell something.

"Battle alert … does that mean that there will be fighting?" Lacus was starting to get worried.

"That's right. Actually it has been going on for a while now."

"Will you and Daniel," Her voice became dejected for a moment. "Also be fighting?"

"Yeah." _How does she know Daniel?_ "Anyway, please don't leave your room. This time for sure, okay?" Kira replied and left.

Only a few second later, a familiar voice stopped him again. This time it was Flay, who wore a very concerned expression. "Kira!" She sounded out of breath, it seemed that Flay had been looking for someone to tell her what was going on. "What does the battle alert mean?" The girl slowed down and stood next to him. "What happened to the advance party?"

Kira shook his head in denial. "I don't know. I haven't been informed yet." He turned to leave, but Flay suddenly grabbed his shoulder, keeping him in place.

"They okay, right? Father's ship won't get shot down right?" Flay almost panicked, unconsciously tightening her grip on Kira's shoulder. "Right?"

Don't worry, everything will be fine, Flay. Since we're going to help them." He assured and smiled, even though he wasn't so sure about the outcome of the battle. He mildly removed Flay's hand and proceeded to the elevator, hoping that there would be no more interruptions.

xxxxx

Things were not going well for the advance force. Mobile Armors, though outnumbering their enemies by a large margin, were being picked off one by one. Also, due to the fact that most pilots were green rookies, it was no wonder that none of the GINNS were even scratched. Blitzing around the battlefield and skillfully dodging every attack that came their way, the GINN pilots blew away their enemies with contemptuous ease. The Moebius pilots were so busy with simply trying to survive, that they didn't even had a chance to defend the ships, which were slowly being destroyed by two Mobile Suits, who had broken trough the defenses.

And of course there was also Aegis to consider. Piloting a Mobile Suit bristling with state-of-the-art technology, Athrun had accounted for every Mobile Armor that tried to fight him. When his comrades took out another trio of Mobile Armors, Athrun sensed an opportunity to take out one of the EA ships, namely the Bernard. Increasing the thrust to maximum, Athrun swiftly blitzed towards the Drake class escort ship. As expected, the ship immediately began targeting Aegis with its twin vulcan cannon emplacements, trying to hold the attacker at bay. But the Aegis quickly circled around to ship's rear and, safe in the blind spot, fired several shots, blasting away Bernard's engines and leaving the ship immobile and almost helpless.

xxxxx

"Escort ship, Bernard, destroyed!"

"Aegis, it's heading towards Law!" Captain Kofman clenched his teeth when the report came.

Standing behind the Captain, George seriously began to worry the Alliance's forces were being decimated right in front of his eyes, by a mere handful of Mobile Suits. "Getting shot, by stolen allied units... This must be some kind of a sick joke." He said more to himself, than anyone in particular, as he caught a glimpse of the red Mobile Suit on one of the screens.

Suddenly, they realized that Law wasn't the only ship targeted by a Mobile Suit. Weaving trough the defensive fire, one of the GINNS made an attempt to destroy the biggest ship of the advance force. Just about as its pilot was ready to fire, a pair of railgun rounds streaked past the Montgomery. One of them cleaved the ZAFT's machine in half, detonating it in a bright explosion and pelting the ship's hull with small pieces of the destroyed Mobile Suit.

"What the … Archangel!?" George gasped. "They came."

The ship's Captain, however, was far less gladdened by Archangel's arrival. "How stupid of them!" He said, banging his hand on the armrest. "They shouldn't have come."

xxxxx

Archangel's intervention did not go unnoticed. And neither the arrival of the three machines it carried. Mu and Daniel, who had launched sooner than Kira immediately engaged the two closest GINNS, while Strike had to deal with Aegis, who had changed its course at the moment Athrun noticed the new arrivals.

Unlike before, Kira and Athrun had less issues engaging each other this time. As soon as they were in range, both pilots opened fire from their beam rifles. Green beams shot across the space between them, sometimes impinging on Strike's or Aegis's shield, but more often they simply missed and continued their path, disappearing in the distance. With both machines keeping their distance and seemingly satisfied with firing each other, the battle between Athrun and Kira had reached a stalemate.

For Mu, his duel with one of the GINNS was more dangerous. His Zero didn't have the PS armor, which would protect him from the recoilless rifle rounds. Furthermore, Mu,s Zero was outdated when compared to ZAFT's Mobile Suits, but Mu wasn't one who allowed things like that to get in his way. Using the superior speed and high mobility, he was able to prevent the enemy pilot from scoring a hit, while using the gunbarrels to put the pressure on the GINN at the same time.

As expected, Daniel had the most difficulties fighting against a GINN. Kira was a Coordinator and therefore he was on equal footing with the enemy. Mu was an experienced veteran, who had fought several battles in the past. As for Daniel, he had nothing. But even that didn't stop him from fighting anyway. Seeing this as an excellent opportunity to take out his anger on the enemy, he took an uncharacteristically aggressive approach. Again and again gunning the boosters, he tried to cross the distance between him and his opponent as quickly as he could. Against any other foe Daniel would be hesitant to take the battle to close combat, but considering the GINN's equipment, he had better chances of winning this fight if he did precisely that. Therefore, he pursued his opponent, slowly closing the distance between them while putting in a huge effort to evade the anti-armor rounds, the GINN shot at him.

Suddenly, he noticed that the GINN's fire had become more cautious and Daniel had a good idea that the other pilot had already passed up on at least three or four opportunities to shoot him. _What is that guy up to?_ The short thought almost cost him, as the GINN abruptly changed its course and was approaching him, firing a well-aimed shot in the process. Acting purely on instinct, Daniel hoicked the controls, making the Pulverizer jerk backwards. Fortunately, the sudden movement saved him. The anti-armor round struck the Pulverizer's left shoulder with its side, instead of impacting on the Muscle Tracer's chest with the armor-piercing tip.

As the unlucky shot ricocheted off from his machine, Daniel quickly used the unexpected opportunity. Not bothering to fire his plasma cannons, as the opponent would dodge them just like before, he activated the laser blades and moved to finally destroy his opponent, who, unknown to him, had fired his last round and was down to the sword and an empty rifle.

xxxxx

"Gotfried number one. Aim and fire!" The command was followed by a distant weapon discharge, aimed at the ZAFT's ship.

"Where is lieutenant Flaga?"

"His Zero is damaged and he is returning."

"Status on Kira and Daniel?" Murrue asked, not noticing that the doors behind her slid open and Flay silently entered the bridge.

"Strike is fighting Aegis near Law, while Pulverizer has engaged one of the GINNS." Flay heard Miriallia's voice coming from below.

"Flay?" Kuzzey's surprised voice turned several heads, as the girl proceeded further onto the bridge.

"How is father's ship?" Flay muttered.

"Civilians should get off the bridge." Murrue admonished and turned her attention back to the matters at hand. "We're currently in the middle of a battle." But Flay ignored her.

"Where is father's ship?" Flay repeated, taking a few more steps forward, even though Sai was now holding her, trying to persuade her into leaving the bridge. "What's going on!? Let me go!" She was answered by a powerful explosion, which tore the nearby ship apart.

"Escort ship Law, destroyed."

"Flay, lets go. You can't stay here." Sai said and slowly guided her towards the exit. He opened the doors, but Faly didn't move. The girl stood, frozen from fear, and stared in the distance. "Flay."

"That kid." She grabbed Sai, who was taken aback by her unexpected move. "Kira … where is he? What's he doing?"

"He's doing the best he can. But the other side has Aegis after all … Things don't look good."

"But he said, that everything is going to be okay." Flay cried distraughtly. Seeing every hope of seeing her father crushed one by one was more than she could withstand. For now, her only hope was that Kira would somehow save her father.

xxxxx

The GINN tried to parry the laser blade sweep with its sword, a mistake as it turned out. Melting its way trough the metal, the right arm's blade cut the sword in half and dug itself into the GINN's right upper arm. Before the pilot could do anything else Daniel used the other blade to impale the Mobile Suit. Although missing the cockpit, he managed to cause massive internal damage, when the laser blade entered the groin and came out trough the back.

"Stay still and let me kill you!" Daniel growled, when the GINN began to struggle to get free, further widening the burnt hole. Not giving his enemy time to get away. Daniel proceeded to repeatedly stab the GINN's chest with the now freed arm, while using the left to keep the enemy still. After the second stab, the Mobile Suit ceased moving, its pilot obviously dead. However, he wasn't done yet. Backing away a little Daniel blew a pair of holes in the Mobile Suit's chest with the plasma cannons, further decimating the machine. "Just to be sure that you're not pretending."

Most pilots wouldn't go that far, but Daniel knew that this guy had it coming. Especially when he considered the numerous, freshly inflicted dents on Pulverizer's armor. Most of them inflicted by the heavy slices the enemy managed to land in order to keep him away. The guy had even used the empty rifle as an improvised club to further increase Daniel's suffering. All those blows had given him a nasty headache.

Taking deep breaths, the boy surveyed the battlefield. As expected two of the three advance force ships were destroyed, while the third one was already damaged. Both remaining GINNs were busy further crippling the Montgomery, while Vesalius was now moving in for the kill and exchanging fire with the Archangel at the same time. For a moment Daniel considered helping the Montgomery, but he couldn't fight against two GINNs at the same time so that plan had to go.

Much to his surprise, Strike was still fighting Aegis. Both machines attacking each other with beam sabers. Or rather it was Aegis that was attacking. Strike was only concerned about keeping away from its opponent and was constantly backing away, while Aegis came at him again and again, only to have its attack parried or blocked. _What the hell is he doing? Why doesn't Kira fight more aggressively? _Daniel frowned and reluctantly began moving towards Kira and Athrun. No matter how he disliked Kira, taking out Aegis would solve a lot of problems in the future.

He got no further than he was, when Vesalius fired its main cannons, the massive beams punching entirely trough Montgomery's already weakened hull. "Shit!" He watched the Nelson class battleship remain motionless for a second, two holes gaping from the midsection, and then the ship came apart. Not slowly and gradually, but with a huge explosion which almost swallowed the two GINNs nearby. The attack had probably hit power generators or something like that. Daniel didn't remain in place for long. With Montgomery gone, Archangel was now the main target for enemy forces. Already he could see both ZAFT's machines blitzing trough the space, eager to start their attack on a new prey. _I can't let them do this! _Daniel decided and also headed towards the white ship with all the speed Pulverizer could muster. _If Kira is too busy to deal with this, then I guess I will have to take care of it._

However, no matter how hard he pushed the Pulverizer, Daniel understood, that the Mobile Suits would reach the Archangel well before him. While he was certain, that Archangel's weapons would make things difficult for them, he also knew that sometimes it took a single shot to cause more than enough damage. _Faster, faster! _The distance shortened very quickly, but he was still too far to do something useful.

"Calling ZAFT forces. This is the Earth Alliance vessel, Archangel." Natarle's voice startled him. She was using the international frequency, which allowed everyone to her what she had to say.

Daniel could also hear someone crying in the background. _Sounds like Flay. Why would she … Damn! Her father was on one of the ships!_ Daniel gasped and punched the nearest cockpit wall in anger. _Fuck! How can they do something like that!? Bastards!_

"We have on our ship Lacus Clyne … The daughter of Siegel Clyne, Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council." Daniel was amazed by the effect these words had on the enemy forces. All three Mobile Suits stopped moving, while the Nazca class slowed down. "We found her in an ejection pod by accident, and are treating her according to basic human rights and civility." Natarle continued, her voice completely imperturbable. "However, if we are fired upon by any of your ships, we will interpret it as forfeiting your duties towards lady Lacus Clyne. Our crew will then deal with her as they see fit."

For a while nothing happened, Daniel was starting to fear that ZAFT would attack regardless, but his fears turned out to be unfounded. Both GINN's turned around and returned to their ship, while Aegis stayed a moment longer, before also turning around and following its comrades.

"Wow…" Daniel breathed in amazement. "I would have never thought that a single girl would be so important to someone."


	9. Heated discussions

Barely aware of the Pulverizer behind him, Kira headed towards the Archangel. Athrun's words still fresh in his mind. _Is that the kind of people you are siding with, Kira? Is that your kind of justice? Siding with cowards who take civilians they rescued as hostages?_ Kira had not been able to say anything, he was equally shocked by the unexpected event that had happened on the ship. Athrun had also paused and when he spoke again his voice was filled with anger and a firm resolve. _I'll rescue her. Definitely… _With that, Athrun had turned the Aegis around and headed back to Vesalius, leaving him alone.

Kira partly understood, that using Lacus as a hostage did indeed save the Archangel from being destroyed, but part of him questioned the morality of such an act. It was wrong. Using Lacus like that didn't sit well with him. Therefore, he quickened his pace, eager to sooner return to the ship and maybe get some answers.

xxxxx

Glancing at the Strike being placed in its maintenance frame, Mu focused his attention on the console in front of him, where he and Chief Murdoch were busy supervising repairs on his damaged Zero. Truth be told Mu wasn't as much working as he was just sipping his drink and urging the other man to work faster, trying to vent out some of the exhaustion from the battle. "Hurry up. It's not over yet. That trick only bought us some time and there is no telling if it will work again."

"I know that." Murdoch replied with more than a hint of dissatisfaction. He seemed to be more frustrated with the whole situation rather than Mu's needless urgings. "We're working as fast as we can. But this whole ship seems to be cursed by unlucky gods."

"Or it could be that Le Creuset guy." Mu added, voice serious. With a corner of his eye he saw Kira leave the Strike's cockpit and head directly towards him.

Kira landed next to him at the exact time the Pulverizer entered the hangar. Without looking at him Mu knew exactly what was troubling the boy behind him. Apparently Kira realized that, because he cut straight to the deal. "What was all that about?"

"Whatever." Mu tiredly replied over his shoulder. "You heard what happened. That's how it is." He added before kicking off from the floor and making his way to the exit.

However, Kira wanted an explanation and followed him. "Taking her as a hostage, threatening her and then running away … That's despicable!" Kira let some anger from the conversation with Athrun bleed into his words. "Is that's what the Earth Alliance is about?"

"Is that what you think?" Mu glared at the boy. "Do you really think we do shameful things like that just because we're weak? … Be it you or I, we have no rights to question the Captain or the Vice-Captain." Mu said exasperatingly, in a tone that encouraged no further conversation. Kira considered to push the line a bit more, but decided that it wouldn't do him any good. Plus, he didn't want to damage his relationships with Mu. Athrun and Daniel were already angry at him, so there was no need to add another person to that group.

xxxxx

"Just for how long that object has been there?" Patrick Zala, ZAFT's supreme commander in all but name, leaned forward, closer to the display on the table in front of him. His words echoing in the almost empty council chamber. Almost empty because several council seats were empty. Just like they were supposed to, since this wasn't an ordinary meeting. Most of the other Supreme Council members, including Siegel Clyne, had no idea about this meeting.

Sitting in their usual places were four other members of the so-called Radical party, consisting of Patrick Zala himself, Ezalia Joule, Louise Leitner, Jeremy Maxwell and Herman Gould. Similar images also displayed in front of them. And, like Patrick, they wore concerned expressions, waiting for someone to explain what was going on.

Standing away from the round table, next to the small table recently used by Rau Le Creuset and Athrun Zala during their debriefing, was another man. Upon hearing the question he took a brief look at his laptop and replied. "I can't say for sure, the information our agents obtained states that the Circ-City entered the Alliance's detection range less than a week ago."

"Circ-City?" Ezalia snorted. "Is that what they call it?"

"I don't care how it is called, but I would like to find out how they found out about this … UFO … before us, mister Dexus." Patrick cut in, his mind already considering the possibilities.

Lee Dexus, one of the intelligence officers loyal to Patrick Zala, sighed as he ran his hand trough his short, dark green hair. "Well, that sector was supposed to be constantly observed by Mullter team, but we lost contact with them a couple of days ago and, due to attack on the Victoria base, it was difficult to send another team so soon." He replied and paused, only to realize that he hadn't answered Ezalia's question. "Oh, and regarding your question, ma'am. Circ-City is the actual name of that station. We still have no idea how the Alliance knows about this. All we know is that a few days ago someone informed the President of the Atlantic Federation about Circ-City and the President immediately ordered to establish contact with the space station."

"Someone informed the President?" Louise Leitner perked up, but almost immediately Lee shook his head in denial.

"Yes, but we don't know the identity of the person ma'am. Our agents disappeared soon after we ordered them to identify the informant. Of course we're still looking into this matter, but it will take some time before we find out anything."

"Knowing the identity of the informant is of secondary concern right now. Do you have anything else to report?" Patrick asked.

"No, sir, that is all."

"Fine, dismissed." Patrick waited until Lee was gone before addressing others. "Now, what do we do about this situation?"

For a moment silence reigned in the room, then Herman Gould spoke in a thoughtful voice. "I suggest that we try to do the same thing the Alliance is doing. Which means we should try to make contact with Circ-City, or whatever it's called, as well. The sooner, the better."

Few members gave approving nods, but Ezalia was somewhat reluctant to agree. "What if they are hostile? Face it, mister Gould, we have no information about them, we even don't know if there are people on that station at all. Sending our forces to Circ-City, without more information, is too much of a risk. I propose that we wait and see what happens to Alliance's emissaries before establishing contact with the station."

"I understand your concerns. Hell, even I wouldn't go near that thing before gathering as much info as possible. However, I'm worried about the Alliance's motives regarding this matter. Judging by the report we just received, the Atlantic Federation seems to be more concerned with that station than trying to stabilize the situation in Africa. You all heard that they even pulled back the entire 11th fleet from their Moon HQ, just to make contact with that station."

"I agree with mister Gould." Patrick slowly said. "Earth Alliance definitely knows more about Circ-City than we do, and as much as I hate to say it, this time we should take the risk and trust them, regarding this problem." One by one, the party members voiced their agreement as well, since Patrick Zala was the leader of their party. Also their agreement was partly out of fear and concern, since their leader had become angrier and more impatient as of late, usually for no apparent reason. He let around a satisfied look before focusing it on Herman Gould. "I trust that you will be able to take care of PLANT's envoys, mister Gould."

"Of course, sir. However, there are few other things we must take care of. One of them is, how are we going to inform Chairman Clyne and the rest of the Council members?"

"Don't worry about that, I will handle Siegel Clyne." Patrick waved off that question. Even though Siegel Clyne was the Supreme Chairman, it was Patrick who directly or indirectly had the final word in most of the Council's decisions. It was something that both of them knew and it was the very same thing that often concerned Patrick's old friend. "And what are the other few problems?"

Herman gulped audibly. His next suggestion was very daring to say the least. "May I also suggest that we call a temporary ceasefire with the Alliance, since it will be nearly impossible to conduct any kind of diplomatic negotiations while we are attempting to shoot each other." As expected, his proposal caused a storm of objections. And there was a good reason for that.

Currently, due to the fall of Victoria base, ZAFT had the initiative in Africa. Initiative that would be wasted if they stopped their offensive and allowed the Alliance forces to regroup or even mount a counter-attack. Another cause for the protests was the top secret operation Spit Break, or even the seemingly tiny problem regarding the Mobile Suit prototypes Strike and Mantis, ZAFT's unofficial name for the sixth machine, due to its head design and strange arms. If these units would be allowed to reach the Alliance's territory they would be placed in mass production, something which PLANTs couldn't allow to happen.

"Okay, I understand, please let me finish." Herman held up his hands placatingly. "I understand that a complete ceasefire would be counterproductive to our long term plans, but we cannot deny the fact that a ceasefire is required to solve this delicate problem."

"Lets make a compromise then." Ezalia suggested, drawing everyone's attention to her. She paused for a moment to better shape her proposal. "How about we propose to cease all combat operations near Circ-City only?" No one said anything, so she continued. "It will allow us to solve the problem without losing initiative on other fronts."

"I agree." Herman felt relieved that at least someone was on his side. "We could negotiate a ceasefire for the duration of diplomatic talks with the representatives from Circ-City. I think the Alliance will agree to our offer, especially if there is a possibility that our … guests might have hostile intentions." Patrick considered that. Even though he found the fact about negotiating with the enemy distasteful, he couldn't deny the fact that Circ-City might offer some opportunities to turn the course of war into PLANT's favor.

"Fine." He finally said after much thought. "We'll try to negotiate a ceasefire with the Alliance near Circ-City while sending our envoys as well. And don't worry about the Chairman. I'll make sure that he will listen to our plan ... As of now, this meeting is adjourned."

xxxxx

Still depressed by the recent battle, Kira made his way trough the Archangel's hallways. Mostly using the time to think about the situation than actually going somewhere. Finally he decided to check up on Lacus, to see if she was fine after Flay dragged her to the bridge and threatened to shoot her. Once he thought about Flay he realized that he could hear someone cry. _It's Flay. _He instantly recognized her voice. _She must have waked up. _Genuinely concerned about her, especially since she had lost her father barely moments ago, he ran in the direction of her voice and soon reached her room only to find out that Miriallia was standing near the doors silently observing Flay and Sai.

Flay had indeed woken up. And it was plain to see that she was completely overwhelmed by grief. Lying on the floor, where she had collapsed, the girl called for her father while her tears trickled on Sai's uniform as he held her close and tried to comfort her. Fruitlessly. Flay didn't even seem to hear him. "That's a lie! … He can't be dead, that's a lie!" She sobbed, her face buried in Sai's chest.

"Flay…" Kira quietly began, but no other words followed. He had no idea what he should say and if he should say anything at all.

Apparently Flay had heard him, because she stopped crying and cast a venomous glare at him. "LIAR!" The girl yelled, her voice was completely different than before. "You lied to me! Didn't you say that everything will be alright? … It'll be okay, since we're going to help them … You said that." The girl accused. Her words stung like incandescent blades, further increasing Kira's suffering. He looked away, unable to meet the fire in Flay's eyes. "Why didn't you protect father's ship!? Why didn't you kill them!?"

"Flay…" Miriallia stammered. Just like Sai she was shocked by the sudden outburst. "Kira fought desperately, he…" She tried to protect the boy standing next to her, but Flay cut her off.

"It's because you're a Coordinator too … You weren't fighting seriously!" Flay's last words remained in the air, casting an almost painful silence.

"I think she's right." A grim voice quietly said from behind them. Kira and Miriallia turned around and saw Daniel standing in the doorway, also scowling at Kira. "You weren't taking this fight seriously, right?"

"Daniel, stop that!" The boy looked at Miriallia and arched his eyebrow.

"Why? Surely you realize Mir, that what Flay and I both said, is true. This guy here…" He looked at Kira. "… is just like those bastards who are trying to kill us. And if I was able to kill one of them, there is no way that you weren't able to kill at least one of them as well." He gave a disdainful smirk. "However, since you didn't kill a single one of those bastards, you were probably just fucking around while others actually tried to do something. Isn't that right … Patchworker?" He said, emphasizing the last word.

Miriallia was just about to shut him up, when Kira rushed out of the room, showing Daniel aside in the process. For a second Miriallia thought that Daniel might do something about that, but the boy didn't move. He just watched Kira run away, while chuckling by himself. He was enjoying the moment so much, he didn't see Miriallia move and was therefore caught completely off guard when she slapped him with more than enough force to slightly turn his head.

"What the hell is your problem!?" Daniel shouted, realizing that the girl had pushed him out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving them alone in the corridor.

"Why are you doing this!?" Miriallia retorted, standing mere centimeters away from him. Daniel took an involuntary step back. It was very, very rare to see her like this. Actually it was the first time Daniel saw her so angry. "Why are you doing this to him?" She repeated. She wasn't screaming or yelling at him, but her anger was no less intense.

Daniel rised his hand to where her hand had struck his cheek. It stung. "Why? Because he didn't say that he was a Coordinator! That's why!"

"When you are treating him like this, I can clearly see why. I would do the same thing if I was in his place."

"If he would have told me when we met, I…"

"Don't be stupid, Daniel. That's a personal matter. You don't tell it to everyone you meet … Everyone has something they don't want to share with others."

"Then how come he told that to you guys? Isn't that a personal matter?"

"Kira told us because we know each other for a long time. He told us because he trusts us."

"So, you're saying that I cannot be trusted?"

"No." Miriallia sighed. She seemed to be a bit calmer now, but she was still nowhere near her usual self. "I'm saying this because things like that take time. He would have told you eventually. And right now, your actions are the last thing he needs."

"Oh, so I should think about his feelings and ignore the fact that he didn't tell me the truth about himself, just because he's having a special moment?" Daniel snorted. "Yeah, right! Like hell I will."

"All I'm asking from you is to stop picking on him." The girl snapped exasperatingly. "You can talk to him in a more polite way, without constantly insulting him. And if you don't have anything useful to say, then don't say anything at all."

"Fuck Kira! What about me, huh?" Daniel exclaimed infuriatingly, his face a twisted expression of anger and resentment. "How do you think I feel? My parents died RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" He suddenly yelled, trying to get his point across. "AND YOU WANT ME TO BE NICE TO A FUCK WHO IS JUST LIKE THOSE BASTARDS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT?"

Miriallia startled at the sudden outburst, but despite that she gathered all her strength to keep her from betraying her true emotions and forced her voice to remain steady. "I'm sorry for your loss, Daniel, but Kira is in no way responsible for the deaths of your parents! And taking out your anger on him won't help anyone. Certainly not you or Kira."

"I'll take it out on whoever I want. And I certainly…" Daniel retorted, but was interrupted when Sai rushed out from the room behind Miriallia, concerned about the racket in the hallway.

"What's going on here?" A quick look at Miriallia and Daniel was enough to give him a general idea. "Why are you yelling at her?"

"It has nothing to do with you." Daniel said, having actually to force his voice to sound as forceful as before. The presence of a new person had drained much of his irritation.

Sai shook his head and stood next to Miriallia. "I'm sorry, but if you are yelling at her, then I must intervene."

Daniel's gaze briefly traveled back and forth between them before settling at Sai. "I wasn't yelling at her, I was just talking out loud because she pissed me off."

"Even so, that's no excuse to yell at her. So please stop it ... And I must also ask you to stop picking on Kira can't you see what's happening to him?" Sai added. Upon reflection it wasn't the best choice of words. Miriallia's wince and Daniel's cold glare was a sure proof of that.

"Sai, don't…" Miriallia whispered, attempting damage control, but it was far too late.

Daniel stepped back, shooting revelatory glares at them. "Oh, I see … so that's how it is." His voice became disdainful. "You two are on Kira's side! No wonder you keep defending him even when he treats me like this. You two will probably be on his side no matter what Kira does."

"Oh, sorr… wait! Treats you like what!?" Sai's intended apology turned into an incredulous exclamation. "You are the…" Miriallia pulled his hand, causing him to stop and moved in between them, remembering to keep facing Daniel, since he was the unstable one.

"I think we should calm down a little and set things straight." She said calmly. Daniel snorted.

"What exactly you don't understand? I think the situation is clear enough. You two are on Kira's side and nothing I say will change that." He began walking away. "Why don't you go and comfort your so called leader, he's probably sniveling in some corner right now and would definitely appreciate some support from his trusted friends." He spat. A truly dangerous activity in the Archangel's almost non-existent gravity.

"Daniel, it's not what you think. There are no sides." Miriallia began, but Sai placed his hand on her shoulder and stopped her from following Daniel. "What?" She looked at him confusingly. "We can't let him be like this, we must do something."

Sai patiently waited until Daniel was out of earshot and sight as well, before answering. "And what do you propose we do? You saw what he is like."

Miriallia shook her head. "He started acting like that after you said that he should go easier on Kira." Sai frowned in surprise. "After I said the same thing a few minutes earlier."

"Oh, that's bad." Sai sighed and glanced in the direction Daniel had disappeared to. "Now I partially understand why he behaved like that. Mir, are you okay?" He asked when the girl shivered slightly and heaved a sigh of her own.

She nodded quietly. "Yes. I'm just a little bit exhausted. Daniel made me so angry, that I couldn't prevent myself from being harsher on him than I wanted to. Especially when he is also suffering."

"I know how you feel. But I believe that you did the right thing. Daniel is clearly the aggressor in this situation. And if he gets used to yelling or humiliating us, just to vent off his anger, we will have a lot of similar situations in the future." Sai wisely explained. "That's why I think that we should try to solve the conflict between Kira and Daniel, without allowing him to walk over us whenever he wants to."

"I guess you're right." Miriallia slowly agreed. "But I hope that we're not too harsh on him." She still felt a bit strange after being so angry at someone, even Daniel. For her friends, Miriallia was always the cheerful girl who seemed to be impossible to piss off. It took a lot to make her genuinely angry and, as Daniel had found out, picking on her friends was obviously enough.

She sighed again and looked at the doors behind her. "Flay has calmed down a bit." Sai traced her gaze and quietly explained. "But she is far from okay … Her father meant everything to her." Sai added in an even darker voice with more than a hint of bitterness. "And I … I don't know what to do now."

"Don't worry, I'll help you. I'm sure we can come up with something." Miriallia said, as they both went back inside the room. A small part of their minds wondered if any more calamities would befall the people aboard the Archangel in the future.

xxxxx

Kira ran. Holding back the emotions, which were trying to force themselves out of his chest, he ran trough the corridors. He passed, or thought he passed, several people, none of which he didn't try to recognize. His sight was blurry for a reason he couldn't discern. He only wanted to get away from that room and find a place where he could be alone. Alone to get rid of all those horrible feelings and memories that were attempting to overwhelm him.

By the time he reached a lone spot, which turned out to be Archangel's aft observation deck, his emotions had reached the boiling point. Not bothering to hold them back any longer Kira let out a loud cry of despair. It seemed to embody all of his negative emotions, fear, anger, desperation, sadness and depression. He cried again and punched the protective glass pane as he slowly began to take heavy and deep breaths. Those two cries had left him out of breath and he felt a little better. Kira took a breath for another scream when someone disturbed him.

"What's wrong?" He heard a familiar girl's voice speak from nearby. Kira turned in the direction of the voice and noticed that it was Lacus, who was floating next to him, only a few meters away and looking at him. Her pink robot toy was also floating nearby making the usual noisy racket.

Lacus evidently concerned about him moved closer and tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, but Kira quickly backed away a little and wiped them himself. "What are you doing here?" He asked afterwards. "In a place like this?"

Lacus didn't answer immediately instead, she gently pushed off from the glass plate and slowly floated backwards to the opposite wall. "I'm taking a walk. Then I heard a loud scream, coming from this place and decided to find out what was going on." She replied, causing Kira to blush slightly.

"You shouldn't come out whenever you want. They will think you're a spy." Kira pointed out. Lacus just smiled and pushed off from the wall behind her. Kira reached out and grabbed her hand, allowing her to stop.

"But my Haro likes walks." She explained, as the pink toy drifted past them. "Even if the door is locked it will open them and go out on its own."

Kira glanced at the small toy. _It can open locked doors? … So that's how she got out._ Haro probably had some kind of a lock picking mechanism. _If anyone finds out about that, Lacus will definitely get into trouble. _"Listen, I think that we should go back." He said, holding out his hand, ready to escort Lacus back to her room.

However the girl just smiled again. "The fighting is over, right?" She suddenly changed the topic.

Kira winced slightly, Lacus probably knew well enough why Kira wanted to be alone. Still, no matter how much he disliked recalling the battle he couldn't help to reply to Lacus's question. "Yes." He nodded, uncomfortably. "Well … Thanks to you."

"Still, your face looks sad."

"I … I don't really want to fight." Kira slowly admitted, more to himself than to her. "Because I'm forced to fight Athrun. He is a friend I was really close to."

"Athrun?"

Kira nodded. "Yes, Athrun Zala. He is that Mobile Suit's … Aegis's pilot."

"Is that so?" Lacus quietly said. "You two are both good people. That is truly a sad thing."

"Do you know Athrun?" Kira frowned. Lacus was talking like she knew him. But something like that was very unlikely.

"Yes. Athrun Zala is the person I will marry one day." Lacus replied. "Although he is kind, he is usually very quiet." She gathered her pet robot in her hands and held it up for Kira to see. "Athrun is the one who gave me this Haro. When I said I really loved it, he made one after another!"

"I see." Despite his gloomy mood Kira smiled. He could very well imagine Athrun doing something like that. "He hasn't changed then. My robot bird was also made by him."

"Ah, really?" Lacus was surprised to hear that. Then she noticed that Kira had become glum again. "Wouldn't it be nice if you two did not have to fight each other?"

Kira let out a heavy sigh while looking outside. "Yes. That would be great." He continued to quietly stare at the space for several minutes before slowly turning around and beckoning Lacus, who was also looking outside, to come with him. "Let's go, before someone sees you here." This time the girl decided to do as she was told to and followed him. However, unbeknown to them, their conversation hadn't gone unnoticed.

xxxxx

"No wonder he didn't listen to you two." Tolle rubbed his forehead while letting out a short sigh. "You two were both on the same side against him."

"Not you too! There are no sides." Miriallia irritatingly tapped her fingers on the table she was sitting at and glared at Toole who was sitting across the table. The boy leaned back and smiled.

"Wait, you misunderstood me. I was trying to tell you how Daniel saw things. And furthermore you know what he is like once he gets worked up like that. He becomes deaf to anything he doesn't like and hears only what he wants to."

"Yeah, but I would have never suspected him to make such … unbelievable, assumptions." Sai quietly added from his seat at the table's one end between the two, not noticing Kuzzey who entered the room a few seconds later.

"Listen, I will talk to Daniel and try to get some sense into him." Tolle offered. Miriallia and Sai traded nervous looks. If Tolle screwed up, the situation would become even uglier than before. On the other hand, Tolle knew Daniel better than they did, so he had the best chance of straightening things out with him.

"Okay, but be careful." Miriallia warned him.

Sai, however was a more optimistic. "If everything goes fine I'm sure that Kira and Daniel will feel a lot better and they'll be back to their usual selves." However Kuzzey had unpleasant news for them.

"I don't think so. It looks like there is another problem." He said from where he was standing next to the water dispenser.

Tolle arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Kuzey turned around to look at them. "It seems that the Aegis's pilot is an old friend of Kira. I overheard him talking with that Coordinator girl." Everyone let out muted gasps as Kuzzey depressingly explained. "It seems that he was a very close friend."

Outside the galley Daniel stopped and took a step away from the entrance. Hearing Kuzzey's words was surprising, to say the least. He leaned against the wall and slowly ran his hands trough his hair as he replayed the conversation in his mind. Several things appeared in a new light. _So that's why Kira couldn't destroy Aegis ... He's fighting against his friend. _A faint voice of conscience started to say that maybe it was wrong to be so rude at Kira if he already had such unpleasant things to deal with, but Daniel ruthlessly quashed it down and spared one last glance at the galley before setting off in the direction of the hangar. He'll give it a thought later … maybe.

xxxxx

Later that night, when most of the people aboard Archangel were sleeping, Kira sat, scrunched up in his bed and kept thinking about his earlier conversation with Lacus. And, the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that he had to do something to help her. Anything that would keep Lacus from being captured by the Alliance. _I have to get her off this ship and give her back to Athrun! _Kira decided and stood up from his bed. He was actually a bit surprised how easy he'd made that decision. It was as if he had decided a very long time ago and was only repeating it to himself in order to strengthen his resolve. This feeling convinced him even more that his plan was the correct one. Carefully, not to wake anyone, Kira slipped out of the room and made his way towards Lacus's room.

Fortunately, he reached her room without alerting anyone and hoped that his luck wouldn't change for a few more minutes. Kira quickly typed in the command and opened the door. Apart from the light reaching inside from the hallway, the room was completely dark. The girl was sleeping. However, her robot was not. Almost as soon as Kira opened the doors, the small toy began to bounce up and down and excitingly greeted him.

"Haro, be quiet!" Kira hushed, fearing that the small robot would more people than necessary. It certainly behaved loud enough to accomplish that.

"What … Haro?" Kira saw Lacus slowly sit up in one of the beds, rubbing her eyes in order to wake up faster. She noticed Kira standing in the doorway. "Oh, Kira. What's wrong?"

"Don't say anything and please come with me." Kira shortly replied, quickly glancing at both ends of the hallway. Clear, for now.

xxxxx

"Daniel, wait a minute." Tolle spotted him as soon as he rounded a corner.

Daniel instantly jumped around. "Oh, Tolle, it's you." Tolle noticed him slipping what looked like a pair of disks in his uniform's pocket. "What are you doing walking around the ship this late?"

Tolle didn't answer until he had reached him and was close enough for them to talk without having to raise their voices too much. "I just got off from my shift on the bridge." He hoped that Daniel wouldn't find it strange that they were actually near the hangar. "You know, I could ask you the same thing." He cast a suspicious gaze over him, not giving the other boy time to think about their unusual meeting. Suddenly, Daniel looked a little uncomfortable.

He looked over Tolle's shoulder, checking if they were alone. "Well, I had some … stuff, to take care of. You know, regarding the Pulverizer and all."

"Oh, the Pulverizer huh? Well can't blame you for spending a lot of time on that thing." Tolle said understandingly as they began walking towards the crew quarters. "I would do the same thing if I were in your place. Especially considering the opposition you and Kira are facing." He forced himself to sound concerned, despite forcing himself not to smile. He could plainly see that Daniel had something to hide, but he decided not to press that topic. Instead, he used the opportunity Daniel had given him.

"Kira is having to work?" Daniel said incredulously. "I'm doing all the work! He's a Coordinator, his kind can pilot mobile Suits like they were born in them."

"You think so? They don't look so tough when you two are fighting against them."

Daniel snorted. "Yeah, right. From the Archangel's bridge -maybe. But out in the space it's a nightmare. A fucking nightmare!" His voice suddenly became introspective. "If it wasn't for that Muscle Trace system, I would be killed the instant the battle began."

"I don't think that Kira also has it easy." Tolle arched an eyebrow. "Honestly, if it wasn't for you, Kira would have been captured by the enemy." As expected, Daniel didn't say anything to refute his words. "And you even managed to hold your ground against Coordinators. I don't think there are many Naturals who can do that. Especially when the enemy is piloting a Mobile Suit." Tolle smirked. As usual, all he had to do was to light a fire under Daniel's ego and the boy would become more reasonable.

Daniel hid a smug grin. "True ... Maybe Kira isn't such a hotshot pilot after all." He gave it a second thought and found himself agreeing with that statement even more. If he hadn't messed up his count, he had more kills than Kira when it came to Mobile Suits. It was unbelievable. He, a Natural, had killed more enemies than a Coordinator.

Tolle was considering how to bring up the true reason for their conversation when they were interrupted by a group of four people who appeared around a corner. "What?" He gasped at the same time with Daniel as they realized that they were looking at Sai and Miriallia who were moving ahead of Kira and that Coordinator girl, Lacus. Kira was wearing his pilot suit while Lacus sported a more basic design, often used by crew for EVA (Extra-vehicular activity/-ies). Both groups saw each other and stopped. Staring at each other in awkward silence.

"What the hell is going on here?" Daniel was the first one to break the silence. "Why are you two wearing space suits?"

Kira silently cursed. Every second was important and a confrontation with Daniel was the last thing he needed right now. He doubted he could convince Daniel to help him as easily as Sai and Miriallia. Tolle wasn't going to be a problem, one look at the brown haired boy assured him that Tolle had figured out everything and was supporting him For a moment he considered simply to make his way past Daniel with force, but he understood that it would cause a whole lot of problems. The biggest problem was that Daniel would reach an intercom way before he and Lacus had made it to the Strike.

"What are you trying to do?" Daniel quietly repeated his question. Kira sighed, there was only one solution he could think of.

Kira moved in front of his group. "Daniel, listen to me. I know we have issues between us, but I need you to help me." Silence. Kira had no idea if it was good or bad, he couldn't read anything from Daniel's narrowed eyes. Sure, there was a fair amount of anger and dislike, but nothing that would tell him about what the other boy was currently thinking. "I want to help Lacus, because we both know that she's not safe here." No answer. "Daniel, please. We don't have much time." Kira was running out of patience. He felt someone lightly pull his arm. It was Lacus.

The girl shook her head and quietly said. "Kira, I appreciate you trying to save me, but I don't want to cause trouble. If…"

"Five minutes." Daniel suddenly said and stepped aside.

The result was a shocked silence and confused looks being shared. Sai and Miriallia gave Tolle approving glances, however, their thoughts of Daniel being talked some sense into by Tolle were dismissed when Tolle shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in denial.

Kira was similarly surprised by the unexpected behavior, but who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth? "Let's go." He said pulling Lacus along. Sai and Miriallia followed close behind. When he passed Daniel and Tolle he opened his mouth to express his gratitude, but was cut off by Daniel.

"Shut up Kira. I didn't do this for you. I have my own reasons." Only then Kira realized that Daniel was looking at Lacus, instead of him.

"Tank you, Daniel." Lacus smiled as she passed him. Daniel just muttered something obscure, which for Tolle, standing right next to Daniel, sounded something like 'sorry' and looked away at the other end of the hallway, signaling that the conversation was over.

"I'm glad there weren't any problems." Tolle sighed, feeling the huge weight on his shoulders disappear. He looked at Daniel whose face remained expressionless. "I don't mean to argue, but why did you helped them?" Daniel quietly continued to stare in the distance for a few moments before facing him.

"As I said, I have my own reasons." He replied curtly. "C'mon, we have to find an intercom."

Tolle fell behind him as they resumed their walk. "I guess you really meant what you said earlier."

"Of course." Daniel grinned. "I'm a man of my word."

xxxxx

After the brief encounter with Daniel, they didn't meet anyone else on their way to the hangar. Miriallia let around a quick look from where she was standing and breathed in relief when she saw that the hangar was completely empty. "It looks clear. I don't see anyone."

"Good. Lacus, wait for me to reach the Strike." Kira wasted little time and quickly drifted towards Strike's open cockpit not bothering to use the catwalk bridge few meters away. As soon as he reached the Mobile Suit, Lacus and Sai followed, with Miriallia close behind.

"Thank, you." Lacus said when Sai helped her get inside the cockpit, where Kira was already waiting for her. Since the cockpit wasn't designed for two people and adding the fact that she was wearing the cumbersome space suit, Lacus had to sit on Kira's lap. She positioned herself as best she could, trying not to obscure the controls and the main screen. When she was sitting comfortably enough, Lacus cast a cheerful glance at Sai and Miriallia who wouldn't be coming along. "Thank you for everything, I hope we will meet again."

"Don't know about that." Sai replied and looked at Kira, who was busy starting up the Strike. When he spoke again, Sai's voice obtained a serious tone. "Kira. You'll come back, right?"

xxxxx

Natarle stifled a yawn and forced herself to concentrate. Her shift was nearing its end, but no matter how she disliked the fact, Natarle didn't allow her thoughts to wonder around like they wanted to. _Stop worrying about Marco and focus! _Natarle reprimanded herself. Personal thoughts were fine now and then, but they had no place on the bridge.

All idle thoughts were dismissed when the console in front of her came to life and an uncertain voice came trough. "Uhhh … Hello? Is this the bridge? …Can anyone hear me? … Dammit! How do you work this thing?"

The voice was familiar, but Natarle couldn't quite recognize it, since the person on the other side was using only voice communications and was dubious about how to properly use the intercom. Natarle quickly fixed that by typing in a few override commands and established a clear communication with whoever it was on the other end. "Ensign Stokes? What are you doing?" Natarle gasped in surprise when the video feed was established and she recognized the boy.

Daniel looked at her slightly relieved. Now that someone had fixed everything, he was able to fulfill his promise. "Oh, miss Badgiruel. It's you. I don't know how to properly say this, so I'll say it as it is. It's about Kira Yamato and that Pat... I mean Coordinator girl."

"What!?"

"Yes, I saw them both heading towards the hangar a few minutes ago. I think that Kira might help her to escape. It is also possible that he's trying to desert or something like that and…"

However, Natarle wasn't listening anymore. She cut the transmission and called up images from hangar's surveillance cameras. "Captain. We have a situation!" She called over her shoulder and engaged the alarm. The images confirmed Daniel's words. They clearly showed two people floating in front of Strike's cockpit and talking to someone or a pair of someones inside the cockpit. "Captain. It looks like Ensign Yamato is attempting to launch the Strike!"

Murrue, who had heard most of the conversation between Daniel and Natarle, quickly ordered the hangar crew to lock down the launch catapults in order to prevent the Strike from launching. However, it was too late. Kira had already hacked the hangar controls from his Mobile Suit and had locked them out of the system. All they could do was to watch, as the starboard catapult opened a few moments later and shortly after it disgorged the Strike Gundam.

xxxxx

Kira paused and looked back at Sai. He realized that his friend was genuinely worried whether Kira will come back at all. Kira himself realized that he several good reasons to leave the Archangel for good. If he did that, Kira would be reunited with his old friend. He would be among other Coordinators. And he also would be away from any Naturals who disliked Coordinators.

All that held him here were his current friends and his promise to protect those who were aboard. Now that he thought about it, he had several good reasons to leave the ship and the fighting with it. All it took was for him to simply surrender to ZAFT and all this fighting he disliked would come to an end and… _What the hell I am thinking about!? _Kira's thoughts broke off as he caught on the seriousness of the situation. _How can I even consider betraying my friends!? There is no way I'm running away and leaving everyone aboard Archangel to their fates! _ He looked at Sai, who was still waiting for an answer to his question. "Definitely. I promise." Kira replied resolutely. The words meant more to him than they did to Sai.

"I'll be back." He repeated and renewed his efforts to access as many hangar control systems from the Strike as he could. It wasn't easy, but he even managed to hack the system that allowed the hangar to be locked from the bridge. It was about time, since the alarms went off only a second later. "Sai, Miriallia. You two must leave the hangar!" Kira said and focused his attention on Strike itself, bringing the last systems online. The hatch closed with a hiss and the main displays came to life, letting him get a full view of the hangar. He was ready. "Hold on, Lacus. Here we go." Kira warned her and moved the Mobile Suit towards the starboard catapult's airlock.

xxxxx

"Mobile Suit launch detected from the enemy ship. Heat signature matches that of the Strike. The enemy ship is slowing down, but it doesn't look like they are preparing for battle."

"One Mobile Suit? What about that Mobile Armor and Mantis?" Ades leaned forward, while Rau turned away from the main display, currently displaying the nearby area and focused his gaze one the camera screens to get a better view on the incoming Mobile Suit. "Issue level 1 Battle Alert!" Fredrik Ades ordered, almost on reflex.

"They have finally decided to do something, but the question is, what. What are they trying to do?" Rau mused, still observing the approaching Mobile Suit.

They didn't have to wait for long, since the Strike's pilot seemed to have diplomatic intentions in mind. "This is Strike, Earth Alliance's Mobile Suit from the Archangel." A young voice filled the bridge as the unknown pilot contacted them on an international channel. "I intend to hand over Lacus Clyne. However, you must stop your ship and Aegis's pilot will meet me alone. These are my conditions. If, you try to shoot me I won't be able to guarantee her safety." The transmission ended as suddenly as it began.

Despite the seemingly good intentions of the Strike's pilot, Captain Ades couldn't help, but feel suspicious. "What are they up to? Damned bastards."

Another transmission came in, this time from the Aegis. "Commander, please let me go." Athrun was already inside his Mobile Suit and ready to go.

The Captain shook his head. "We don't know their true intentions. Or if Lacus Clyne really is with him. It could be some kind of a trap."

"Permission granted." Rau said after briefly considering the facts.

"Thank you, Commander." Athrun's relief was almost palpable.

"Commander, is it all right?"

Rau glanced back at the captain. "It's definitely a chance. And if it is a trap, Athrun can take care of himself." He replied and smirked. "It seems that their pilot is also still a kid … Stop the ship and prepare my CGUE. This might be an opportunity to take out one of their pilots." Rau ordered calmly and headed towards the elevator.

xxxxx

After covering half of the distance between Archangel and Vesalius, Kira reduced the thruster output, leaving the Strike floating in space and waiting for ZAFT's response. Neither Lacus or Kira said anything, nearly hundred different thoughts running trough their minds at once. Lots of things could go wrong, and lots of things could go seriously wrong. They weren't even sure Vesalius got the message. For all they knew, Strike could be presenting itself as a target impossible to miss.

All doubts and worries vanished when the Nazca class stopped a fair distance from them and launched a Mobile Suit soon after. Few moments later, Strike's computer identified the Mobile Suit as Aegis. ZAFT was doing as he'd asked them to. Someone was coming to meet them. Which meant that everything could be settled more calmly. Still, not wanting to take any chances, Kira aimed the rifle at Aegis. Nothing too threatening, just a warning sign. One, which Athrun instantly understood as Aegis also drifted to a halt few meters away from the Strike.

"Athrun Zala?" Kira cautiously asked. Just because it was Aegis didn't mean that Athrun would be piloting it this time.

"Yes, it's me."

"Open the cockpit!" Kira ordered in a much calmer voice and, once Aegis's cockpit was opened, he opened his own. "Lacus, say something … He can't see your face. He has to know it's you." He explained to her, nodding at Athrun.

"Oh … Good evening, Athrun." Lacus greeted the Aegis's pilot. "It's been a long time since we've seen each other."

"Confirmed, it's her." Athrun even managed a smile, when any doubts were removed by Lacus's greeting.

"Then take her and go." Kira gave the girl a gentle push, letting her float across the space towards Aegis, where Athrun had already left the cockpit and was waiting for her. Once she was near enough, Athrun reached out and grabbed her hand, safely stopping her.

The girl glanced back at Strike. "Thank you, Kira. And you too, Athrun."

Athrun was also looking at his friend and decided to try his luck. "Kira, come with me too … Is there any reason for you to remain in the Earth Alliance?"

"Sorry, Athrun." Kira's voice came back silent and dry. "I … I don't want to fight you, but my friends are on the Archangel … Friends that I must protect! That's why I can't go with you."

"I see. Fine. In that case, the next time I will fight you." Athrun promised.

"So will I." Kira's promise sounded just as firm as his. Without another word, Kira closed the cockpit and set off towards the Archangel, or that's what he intended to. He barely managed to get away from Aegis when all hell broke loose.

Without any warning, the Nazca class took off in full speed towards him, just as Kira detected another Mobile Suit being launched from it. Hardly a second later, two more launches were detected, this time they came from the Archangel.

"What's going on?" Kira numbly asked, slightly shocked by the sudden changes.

"Hurry up and get back to the ship!" Mu's strained voice reached him, as he and Daniel gunned their thrusters for all it was worth in order to reach Strike before the enemy. "Did you really think that they would simply sit by and do nothing?"

Reluctantly, Kira turned around to get a better aim at the GUIAZ as it blitzed past the Aegis. Luckily he was spared from a confrontation when Lacus spoke on an open channel in an unusually steely voice. "Commander, Rau Le Creuset. Please stop it." There was something in her voice that didn't make it sound like a plea, despite the polite words. "Do you want to make a battlefield out of where I, a representative of the Memorial Party, am currently at? … I won't allow you to do that … please, stop immediately."

Kira didn't hear Rau's reply since the guy was probably using a coded frequency, but when ZAFT's Mobile Suit broke off and turned around, Kira could fairly imagine what was they reply. _Thank you, Lacus. _He watched as the GUIAZ took its position next to Aegis, escorting the red machine back to Vesalius.

Speaking of escorts, his had finally reached him. Both machines were floating on either side of him, waiting for Kira to head back to Archangel. "C'mon kid, let's go back. Going after them would only cause us problems." Mu urged him.

However, Daniel had different thoughts. "What problems? It's three against two, we can take them!"

"After that girl just saved us, attacking them would be kinda stupid. Besides you don't know Commander Le Creuset like I do. That guy probably outnumbers us all by himself … Just let it go, Daniel." Daniel mumbled something incomprehensible, but decided to follow Mu's warning and backed away.

"C'mon, Kira, let's go." Mu said and when Strike began moving again, they both followed the Pulverizer.

xxxxx

"I understand that most of us feel uncomfortable given our current situation, but I think there are times when we must cooperate."

"Cooperate? Tell me one reason why should I believe you."

"I agree, you people only talk about cooperation when you need to reload your weapons or have bitten off more than you can chew. Which is it this time?"

"I understand your suspicions, unfounded as they are, but I want to be sure about our decision regarding the current problem."

"I've said it before, our people intend to negotiate with our … guests. And I strongly suggest you do the same."

"Our decision is exactly the same. We have no intention of remaining on this floating peace of scrap and keep living like savages. Besides, you both are aware that our supplies will last us only for six months at best. Like it or not, we need help."

"Fine, it seems that our aims are similar. However, there is another question. What if they are hostile? We all know that ever since Circ-City's generators stopped working the defense systems are offline. So, what if we have to fight?" A long silence followed.

"Well, we have approximately one hundred Enforcer class MTs and all Ravens have reported that there are no problems with their ACs."

" We are relying on those mercenaries to defend Circ-City now? You very well know that they will run like rats from a sinking ship at the first sign of trouble."

"I know, but as you said they are mercenaries, pay them enough and they'll do anything."

"It's always expenses and more expenses. Do you realize what kind of an impact this will have on my financial status?"

"All the more reason for us to welcome our guests with open arms and have a nice chat with them. Actually I'm quite intrigued to talk to them."

"Okay, fine, we roll out the red carpet, pretend to be nice and probably get some help. Are we done here? Being so close to you is making me feel nauseous."

"Yes, I believe we are done here. Besides, since we're cooperating now, I must go reload my weapons while there's still a chance."


	10. Breaking the boundaries

"The defendant does not understand at all how much his actions endangered the ship." Kira silently stood in the middle of the room while his eyes were fixed on Murrue on the other side of the desk.

"What she just said was an analogy." Mu's voice said from his left. "I request for it to be erased from the court records."

"Request granted." Murrue said, closely looking back at Kira, while Natarle and Mu tried to come up with more accusations or justifications to decide the extent of Kira's actions.

"Umm, firstly, using civilians as hostages is in violation of …" Mu hurriedly browsed the regulations manual until he found what he was looking for. "Here it is! … It is in violation of Article four of the Kolska Treaty."

"Our actions correspond to the same article, Special Case, Item C. Which states that this rule doesn't apply during wartimes." Natarle instantly replied. She hadn't even opened her manual once and seemed to be knowing it by heart, whereas Mu…

"Eh? Special Case Item four?" He once again checked the manual. "What the … Wow, I didn't know about that." He continued to leaf trough the book, searching for a ray of hope. "Ahh, but because he released her, the Nazca class cruiser retreated, and we are safe."

"That is only a hindsight-based opinion." Natarle countered.

"Kira Yamato, do you have anything you would like to explain?" Murrue wanted to know why exactly Kira helped Lacus escape. "Why did you commit such an act?"

"Because I didn't rescue her to use her as a hostage." Kira replied seriously.

"That's right. You should have used her as a girlfriend instead." Mu quipped, earning a glare from Kira and Natarle.

"The counsel should be careful with his language." Murrue warned him, slightly upset that Mu was joking even in this situation. Then she focused her attention on Kira again. "Kira Yamato's actions are in violation with Clause B, Article three of the Martial Law. Clause F of Article ten, and infringement of Clause three of Article thirteen. This court passes the verdict … Execution." The sheer look of shock on Kira's face was priceless and almost made Murrue laugh. She managed to hold back the laughter though, but when she spoke again, her voice was much kinder. "However, that's only if you were in a military court. This court does not have the authority to judge civilians. I demand, however, that Kira Yamato considers his actions carefully from now on. This court is now adjourned."

"It means, don't do anything like that again." Mu gleefully explained, seeing that Kira was uncertain what it all meant and still worried about that "execution" part. "You're free to go." He added when Kira looked around, slightly uncertain about what he was supposed to do now.

"Oh, okay … then excuse me." Kira stammered and eagerly left the room. He was barely outside when he was met by Sai and Miriallia, who were impatiently waiting outside all this time and wanted to know the result of the court.

"Kira. How did it go?"

"What did they say?" Miriallia's question followed Sai's.

"Are you going to clean the toilet for a week?" Sai tried to brighten the mood, but was cut off when Mu came out of the cabin.

"That's a good idea! I'll take care of it, so you can start today." The older man laughed and gave Kira a friendly tap on the shoulder. Natarle soon followed Mu out of the room; she didn't say anything, but her scowl told Kira that she was displeased with Murrue's decision.

Kira waited until Natarle was out of the earshot. "It's okay now. They simply told me not to do anything like that again."

"I see. So it's only us who got into trouble." Sai mumbled discontentedly.

"Why? What happened?"

"We made Sergeant Murdoch very angry." Miriallia clarified. "He said "Don't you know the meaning of the word "Danger"?""

"I'm sorry, I'll see what I can do to help you…" Kira began, but Sai laughed it off.

"It doesn't matter. We're going to join up with the 8th and 11th fleets and after we deal with whatever problem they have, we'll be returning to Earth." He said as they walked down the hallway. After a short moment Sai spoke again, this time he sounded more serious. "We heard from Kuzzey … He said that he overheard your conversation with that girl." Kira, wondering where this conversation was going, didn't say anything. "That person, who pilots the Aegis is your friend, right?" Sai and Miriallia watched Kira let out a gasp and cast a worried look at them. "Relax, we don't mind you not telling us." Sai smiled reassuringly. "Although I'll admit, that I was a little worried … but you came back. That's all that matters."

Kira almost breathed in relief, but something still worried him. "Umm, does Daniel…"

"We don't know for sure." Miriallia slowly shook her head. "Still, judging by his actions yesterday, I think he does. You can always ask him if you're not sure."

Kira shook his head. "I don't think that talking to him might be a good idea."

"Maybe." Miriallia shrugged. "But you know very well what happened the last time when he realized that we were all keeping a secret from him."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

"Well, if you do decide to talk to him I wish you the best of luck. Right now, Mir and I must take our shifts now." Sai glanced at his watch.

"Thanks." Kira smiled watching Sai and Miriallia leave in the direction of the bridge. _Maybe Mir is right … Maybe I should talk to Daniel. _He thought and finally decided to give it a shot. _Fine, let's see how this'll turn out. All I have to do now is to find him, but where should I start?_ Kira noticed the elevator nearby and decided that the reasonable place to start his search would be the hangar. With the thought in mind he entered the elevator. What he failed to notice was that there was someone else in the hallway.

xxxxx

With the Vesalius gone to return Lacus back to PLANTs, it was up to Gamov to continue the pursuit of the Archangel. Being more heavily armed and carrying pilots who had no qualms about destroying their target, the Laurasia class in question was more eager to attack than simply pursuit the Archangel. Also, the three Mobile Suit pilots had other, more important reason to attack.

"Damn, those bastards are almost home free." Yzak said trough gritted teeth as he studied the display.

Nicole trailed the projected courses of both ships. "According to this, we'll catch up with them before they meet up with their fleets." He nervously chewed his lip. "But we will only have ten minutes before entering 8th and 11th fleets' firing range." Yzak glanced at him with a derisive look.

"We have ten WHOLE minutes." Dearka corrected, whilst casually leaning against the console.

"Yeah, if you are scared just say so." Yzak grinned and stood upright, waiting for an answer.

"I'm not scared. But I am worried … Worried because there are two fleets heading towards us. And even our new Mobile Suits won't hold out for long against such odds."

Without loosing a fraction of his grin Yzak shook his head. "Like I said, you're a coward, and you even think like one. We don't have just ten minutes … we have ten whole minutes. After that, it just becomes a target rich environment." Nicole met Yzak's gaze, but he didn't say anything. Arguing with Yzak was completely pointless and Dearka was sure to take Yzak's side. "I'd be sorry if I let them slip away with those ten minutes we have." Yzak continued when Nicole didn't say anything.

"I agree. The success of a surprise attack has nothing to do with the amount of time we have." Dearka voiced his opinion as well.

"I know that, but…"

"Vesalius will come back as soon as they drop off Lady Lacus." Yzak interrupted Nicole without even looking at him. "Until then that ship is ours to destroy, got it you two?"

"Agreed."

"Understood."

xxxxx

Aboard Vesalius, Athrun rised his hand in front of his face just in time to intercept a pink ball that was ricocheting trough the corridors. "Lacus." He sighed by himself. As expected, she wasn't far behind.

"Haro is really glad to meet you again." She floated towards him.

Athrun helped her to stop and handed the small robot back to her. "It doesn't have that kind of feelings." He pointed out and looked both ways. "Besides, you're a guest on a battleship, it's not good for you to be wandering around outside your room."

"I hear the same thing wherever I go. How boring." Lacus mumbled as Athrun escorted her back to her room.

"There's nothing I can do. That's the situation we're in right now." Athrun reminded her. Despite his words, Athrun clearly understood how Lacus felt. Lacus wasn't that would silently sit in her corner and do nothing. Lacus always wanted someone to keep her company, so she wouldn't become bored. _She probably tried to find someone to talk to on Archangel as well._ He stifled a chuckle.

Apparently his thoughts were reflected on his face, because Lacus gave him a puzzled look. "What is it, Athrun?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering how they treated you on the Archangel."

"Everything as fine." The girl smiled reassuringly. "Your friend took good care of me."

"Is that so?"

"Kira is a very kind person, and strong."

Athrun shook his head in denial. "He's an idiot! Despite saying that he's not military personnel, he still pilots that thing. Can't he see that he's being used?" Athrun clenched his fists in frustration. "He's just using his friends as an excuse…" His voice became more desperate. "Why can't he see that!?"

Lacus reached out to brush some of his hair out of his eyes, but Athrun took a step back, out of her reach. "He said that he doesn't want to fight you." Lacus tried to calm him down.

"I feel the same way!" Athrun retorted. "I don't want to fight him." He stood silent for a moment while he composed himself. "Excuse me, I have to leave now." He quickly said and turned to leave.

"You always look so sad these days." Lacus quietly sighed.

"No one puts up a cheery smile while they're at war." Athrun replied over his shoulder and left.

xxxxx

A cheery smile settled on Daniel's face as he browsed the data on the disk. The copy contained most of the data from the disk his father gave to him and a few more data Daniel himself had gathered from the Pulverizer's computer. The only difference was that the copy didn't hold the Core Protocol program, which remained secured on the original disk. After a lot of thinking he had decided to keep the original for himself while letting Admiral Halberton have the copy. The reason for this was that he was eager to continue his work on the Pulverizer. And a copy would allow him to continue his work if the Admiral wouldn't allow that.

One thing that made him pause was the thought about the Core Protocol program. He dimly recalled his father saying that it was supposed to be some kind of a control program for the Pulverizer, but the thing that concerned him was that the machine seemed to be operating perfectly even without the program and the computer hadn't stated anything about requiring such a thing. Naturally he'd thought about simply installing it and finding out what would happen, but something had made him change his mind. Daniel wasn't sure why, but whenever he though about the Core Protocol, he felt something like a bad premonition as if something bad would happen if he installed the program. This feeling scared and amused him at the same time. What could possibly happen? It was just a program. A code. There was nothing to be scared of. But his worries didn't vanish. They remained, faintly nagging the back of his mind whenever he thought about the Core Protocol.

He shelved the thoughts for now. He wasn't that stupid as to think that he would never run the program. Curiosity would sooner or later gain the upper hand. Hopefully by then he would know more about the Core Protocol. As for now Daniel decided to leave the program on the disk and far away from the Pulverizer's computers.

After he was sure that the copy looked "real" enough, he shifted into more comfortable position and begun working on his recent hobby, studying the Pulverizer's computer. _It's a good thing that now I don't have to sit in that dark cockpit. _He cast a quick glance at the dark pit next to him. He himself was sitting on its edge, reclining against the machine's head while a pair of cables stretched from the laptop into the dark confines of the cockpit where they were connected to the Pulverizer itself. Of course he could make things easier by doing this while sitting in the pilot's seat and forgoing the need of the laptop however, those needles were still there. While Daniel understood that they were needed to improve his ability to move the Muscle Tracer, he'd resolved to stay as far away from them as and when possible.

While the painful part made Daniel uneasy, all other aspects simply amazed him. Just by running basic diagnostics he discovered several features that were almost unbelievable. First and foremost: the power source. According to his findings the Pulverizer was powered by a 3rd generation advanced compact tokamak generator system. While Daniel had no idea what exactly was an advanced tokamak generator system and how it worked, he had discovered that the thing produced a vast amount of power for unlimited periods of time. For a brief moment Daniel suspected that it was a type of nuclear reactor, but then he remembered that the N-jammers rendered all nuclear reactors useless. Exactly what powered the machine under him remained a mystery for now.

Another feature that the machine contained was a very customizable operating system. He hadn't dared to tinker with it, but it seemingly allowed him to change pretty much everything from plasma cannon firing speed to neural impulse tracing sensitivity. That last part made him think. Apparently it had something to do with controlling the Pulverizer, but once again he was too worried about messing up, that he just let it be.

He was so focused on his work that he failed to notice someone landing on the other side of the Pulverizer's head behind him. The person looked at the laptop's monitor over his shoulder before mustering the courage to speak. "Uhh, Daniel. Can we talk for a moment?"

Daniel jumped slightly and turned around, his mood decreasing a few notches when the person turned out to be Kira. "What do you want?" He demanded, turning his attention back to the computer.

"I want to talk to you about…" Daniel struck several keys at once.

"I already told you, I didn't do it for you." He replied, before Kira could finish the sentence. "It was between me and that girl." He added in a low voice.

Kira shook his head, unaware that Daniel couldn't see him. "No, no, you misunderstood me … It's about the time when the advance force was wiped out. I wanted to explain why I couldn't kill that Mobile Suit's pilot." Kira said, unsure if his determination had changed since then.

"Is it because Aegis is piloted by a friend of yours?" Daniel asked a bit more calmly, staring at the monitor without really seeing it.

Kira sighed. "So you know that already."

"Yes, I know. I overheard Kuzzey telling it to our friends." Although Kira was surprised by the fact, that Daniel said "our friends", he still wasn't sure what to expect. Meanwhile Daniel turned around to finally look him in the eye. "What I want to know is why are you telling me this?"

"Because I think you should know … When, I mean if we have to fight them again I want you to know that it might be hard for me to fight against that Mobile Suit." Kira answered after a brief thought.

"Something, that doesn't mean much, because we're soon meeting up with the Alliance's forces." Daniel pointed out as he stood up.

"Yes, but another reason is that I don't want this to turn out like that problem before and I really want us to remain…"

"That's enough! Now you listen … I've been thinking about this for a while and here's what I've come up with. Before this shit began you was my friend. Then I found out that you've been keeping a major fucking secret from me and that you're actually just like those bastards who are responsible for my parents' deaths … And recently I learned that all this time you've been fighting against a friend of yours. So here's what I have to say. Leave me alone! … Just because I didn't immediately report you to the Captain doesn't mean that we're buddies again and I don't think that will change in the near future. However…" He took a deep breath. "Now that I partially understand you, I will do as Mir said and go easier on you. A ceasefire if you will. Also, like I said before, leave me alone, I want to think this trough before I make my decision. And if anything I said leaves this hangar you can forget we had this conversation."

Kira looked back at him and considered that. It wasn't the result he wanted to achieve, but it was far better than nothing and in some ways he was glad that Daniel wanted to make the final decision, otherwise Kira would have probably caused more conflicts between them by trying to make up again and again. After silently nodding in agreement he pushed off from the Pulverizer's head, heading towards the elevator, while smiling a small, cheery smile.

xxxxx

The doors slid open allowing the man to enter Viktor's quarters aboard the 11th fleet's flagship the Aggressor. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Viktor nodded. "Yes, I wanted to have some company." He leaned back in his chair and beckoned the other man to sit down on the other side of the small desk.

Domenic did as he was told, but something didn't sit right with him. A closer look on the Colonel explained everything. "Sir, have you been drinking again?"

"I just can't stand being in space. All this micro gravity shit makes me feel like I'm not in control of myself … You want a drink?"

"That's not much of a choice is it, sir?" Domenic slightly tilted his head as Viktor reached in the built-in cupboard behind him and pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and two glasses, which he placed on the desk.

"That's right. And stop it with that formal talk. We're just two guys having a drink … or lots of drink."

"Yes, sir." Domenic smirked and emptied his glass in one swing. "Holy… This stuff will kill you … No thanks, I had enough." He said when Viktor poured himself another glass.

"That's why you're my number one. Always keeping a clear head."

"Not always, but I had enough problems getting here. According to the Captain, Scipio's engines will need more serious repairs later ... But I'm guessing that you didn't ask me to come here to tell you about my problems."

Viktor slowly twiddled the now-empty glass in his hand, gazing at the light's reflection before replying. "We have problems. Spy kind of problems."

"Did they find out something about our secret?" Domenic leaned closer, his voice dead serious.

"We caught them when they tried to infiltrate Bastion." He said, referring to the military base in the Appalachian Mountains. "They are being interrogated now, but we can't discount the possibility that the base's security has already been compromised."

"So what now?"

"We continue our mission. Circ-City comes first, then we can concentrate on eliminating spies."

"Fine. By the way what's this I heard about a ceasefire? It can't be true."

"It is. Now that the PLANTs know about Circ-City, they want to contact them as well and it's obvious that it will be impossible with both sides trying to kill each other. Besides, there is a possibility, however unlikely, that a conflict might break out between us and our guests, so if we work together with ZAFT we will have better hopes at making it out alive."

"Better hopes at survival?" Domenic snorted incredulously. "Are you afraid … Sir?" He quickly corrected his somewhat rude question, realizing that he was slightly pushing the line talking like that.

Fortunately Viktor paid it no attention. For a brief moment he even looked to be a bit worried about the whole deal. "Honestly … I am nervous. Even with the fragmented data we have, it is clear that in some aspects they are years ahead of us … even PLANTS."

Domenic arched his eyebrows. "So, I'm guessing that this will turn into a race about who can grab most of their technology?"

"That's right. Except that we need it even more than PLANTs, since we're the ones at disadvantage. Especially since most of our tide-turning projects are in initial phases."

"What about Strike, Archangel and Pulverizer?"

"Useless if we can't get our hands on them. Besides, Admiral Halberton will do anything to prevent us from getting them. I'm afraid that we're stuck unless something extraordinary happens."

"Damn … can't we just get that bastard out of our way? I'm sure mister Azrael can pull a few strings."

Viktor poured himself another glass and shook his head. "We can't. As you know, Halberton is one of the major leaders of the group that is completely against Blue Cosmos expanding its influence in the armed forces. Since he is an influential person any action against him will be seen by public as Blue Cosmos's attempt to take control of OMNI Enforcer. We must wait until our support is strong enough to get rid of him without killing him."

"If Azrael can't touch him, maybe you can take care of him?" Domenic suggested, searching for an alternative, but once again the older man shook his head in denial.

"No. As a member of Blue Cosmos, I won't disobey my boss. As a soldier, I respect him and what he does. Even if it complicates things."

"All in all it turns out that our secret might be exposed, the Pulverizer is out of our reach and there is nothing we can do about Admiral Halberton, so that's why we are waiting to see if the meeting in Circ-City will set things in motion again." Domenic gloomily summed up, staring at his empty glass in defeat. "Fuck clear head! I need a drink!"

"I knew you'd break eventually." Viktor smiled as he leaned forward to fill Domenic's glass.

xxxxx

The Archangel's mess hall had become something of a cursed place for certain people. In the recent past a lot of conflicts had taken place here. Even though some of them were eventually resolved, the room retained its unpleasant reputation. Therefore, in fear of sparking another unwanted issue, Sai, Kuzzey and Daniel ate their food without their usual discussions. There had been one discussion at first, where Kuzzey and Sai wanted to know how did Kira's talk with Daniel go, but when Daniel strictly refused to pursue this matter it sort of died down and no one had said a word for a long time.

After careful thinking Kuzzey came up with a topic that was more or less neutral and relatively safe to talk about, since everyone was probably thinking about it at some point in time. He quietly coughed to get everyone's attention. "Guys, I've been thinking about this for a while … In less than an hour the Archangel will reach the fleets and the thing on my mind is … what are they going to do with us?" Both boys stared at him, each composing his answer. As usual, in situations like this, Sai was the first to answer.

"Well, I guess they will let us go, right?" He looked at Daniel, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes, but, at that time, Lieutenant Ramius said, that we have seen a top military secret and she can't let us go like that until said otherwise by appropriate authorities." Kuzzey had his doubts.

"Well, I guess someone from one of those fleets will be that "appropriate authority"."

"Besides, now that ZAFT has those machines, I don't think that's much of a secret anyway." Daniel added. After a slightly unsure pause, he continued in a quieter voice. "By the way, I haven't decided yet, but I'm planning to ask them to let me stay with the Pulverizer." Both Sai and Kuzzey gave him incredulous looks.

"You what!? You can't be serious!" Sai couldn't believe his ears. Kuzzey nodded in agreement.

"He's right. There is no way that they will let you keep that thing."

Daniel held up his hands, telling them not to speak so loud. "I know, I know! I told you, that I haven't decided yet. I'm just thinking about it, considering … My parents worked tirelessly on that thing, therefore I feel it's my duty to continue their work and find out everything about it."

"Still, I don't think they will let you. No matter how you look at it, you're just a student." Kuzzey pointed out.

"I know that!" Daniel glared at him. "But I have a trump card … I think." Kuzzey cast a worried glance at Sai who shared the expression. Daniel's plans sometimes had a nasty habit of backfiring.

"A trump card? What exactly?"

"It's a secret. One that I want to keep." Daniel replied with a knowing grin. "Don't worry, it won't cause you any trouble." Sai considered that and slowly shook his head.

"If you say so, but be careful." He said and turned his head when he heard someone coming. His heart quivered slightly when he saw Kira entering the mess hall.

Kira stopped for a moment when he saw them, but after exchanging brief glances with them, he went towards the water dispenser to get himself a drink. He couldn't help feel an aura of uneasiness in the room. As if something bad would happen if he tried to start a conversation. He also felt a slight irritation when he saw Kuzzey. He was the one who told everyone about Athrun being Kira's friend. Not that it was supposed to be some kind of a secret, but now they were looking at him as if he might betray them any second. However, he shrugged it off before the feeling could affect his mood. Just as he picked up his cup, Kira realized that someone else had entered the cafeteria.

"Flay?" Sai stood up. "How are you feeling?" Kira turned around and saw the girl standing in the doorway, closely observing him with an appraising look. She continued to stare at him, seemingly ignoring everyone else. Only when Sai walked across the room and stood next to her did she respond to his question.

"I'm okay. It's nothing." She waved off the question, heading over to Kira. "Kira, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier … At that time I was shocked and I said things I shouldn't have … I'm really sorry. You were trying your best to protect us."

"Flay, it's okay." Kira, caught off guard by the sudden apology, tried to calm her down as Flay's voice became more desperate with every word she said. "I unders…"

"I realize now as well, that you've tried hard for us, but I …"

"Thank you, Flay." Kira said and looked away. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect your father." Flay stood silent for a moment, when she spoke again, her voice was more thoughtful.

"War is terrible … I wish it would end quickly."

"I agree." Kira smiled, looking back at her.

"All hands, Level 1 Battle Alert! I repeat, all hands, Level 1 Battle Alert." The PA system blared as the alarm went off, interrupting their conversation and bringing back the harsh reality.

"ZAFT is attacking again!" Sai said as everyone began leaving the mess hall. "They probably want to try one last time before we're out of reach."

"Bastards!" Daniel cursed, already out in the hallway, running towards the nearest lift with Sai, Kuzzey and Kira bringing up the rear.

Kira was in such a hurry that he didn't notice a little girl also running in the hallway and ended up running into her and knocking her down. "Sorry." He skidded to a halt. "Are you okay? Here, let me help you." Before he could do anything, Flay rushed out of the mess hall and helped the little girl get up.

"Sorry, the big boy is in a hurry. It's a battle again, but it'll be fine." Flay smiled reassuringly and glanced at Kira. "He will fight for us and protect us."

"Really?"

"Yes." Flay's smile became wider. "He will shoot down all the bad guys."

Kira frowned when he heard Flay's words, but now was not the time to argue about that. Everyone else was waiting for him. "Don't worry. It'll be fine." He promised and ran off, leaving Flay and the little girl behind him. What Kira didn't see was that Flay's smile became cold as she watched him leave.

xxxxx

The massive magnetic discharge, that launched Mu's Zero, echoed across the entire hangar, reminding Kira to hurry up. With a corner of his eye he saw Daniel rushing towards the Muscle Tracer. Already clad in his flight suit he reached the Strike's cockpit and quickly strapped himself in while activating the Mobile Suit at the same time.

His video communications screen flickered to life as Miriallia informed Kira and Daniel about the opposition. "Kira, Daniel. ZAFT force includes one Laurasia class, the Duel, Buster and Blitz."

"So it's four against… urgh … four, right?" Daniel replied, suppressing a grunt when the control system connected with his body.

"Yes, but be careful out there. Remember, we only need to hold out until the Alliance forces arrive." Miriallia replied and signed off.

By now, both machines were already inside the catapults and the final preparations were almost complete. Daniel was first to launch, since his weapons were integrated into the machine. Kira however, had to wait for the Strike to be equipped with the Aile Striker. Finally he also received the green light and was instantly pushed back into the seat as the Strike was launched from the Archangel.

xxxxx

The radar picked up three contacts heading towards them. "There they are." Yzak grinned while keeping an eye on one of the secondary displays, where a signal from the Gamov should arrive any second now. "NOW! SCATTER!" He ordered his partners when the signal came and moved Duel out of a well-aimed shot's path as it speared trough the location where he had been just moments ago.

The shot was indeed well aimed, since it scorched the Archangel's port side and probably took out a few systems as well. However, the ship continued to move, a legacy from the laminated armor. But even the new armor would fail eventually; it was only a question of time. And time was what they didn't have.

"Dearka, Nicole, listen up! We want this to be over nice and quick, so here's what we're going to do. I'll take on Strike. Nicole, I want you to ignore everyone and head straight for the ship. Dearka, you handle that Mobile Armor and Mantis. Remember, ZAFT wants Mantis captured if possible, so try to disable it, if you can." Yzak ordered and began searching for Strike. Nicole voiced his agreement and fell behind Duel, ready to charge past the enemy formations once they met.

Dearka took a quick look at the radar and cursed under his breath. He instantly located the Zero, the small fighter was charging right at him, but the Mantis turned out to be a problem. Whoever the pilot was, that bastard had decided to hang back, out of the main fighting, forcing Dearka to hunt him down while fighting off the Mobile Armor at the same time. But that didn't slow him down. He was an elite after all. "Okay you Natural bastard! Come 'ere so I can fuck you up!" The blond pilot muttered and took a careful aim.

Both trios met between the two warships. The nearby area quickly became a heated battlefield as everyone opened fire. Meanwhile, Archangel and Gamov continued to exchange volley after volley from their weapons, adding more to the list that the six pilots had to watch out from. Paying close attention to the massive beams and occasional missiles or linear cannon rounds, both sides acted according to plans they had come up with.

Mu deployed the gunbarrels and began peppering the enemy Mobile Suits, forcing them to break the formation and start fighting independently. The three Gundams dispersed far too early, making him suspect that they planned to fight one on one from the start. His suspicions were correct when they fired back, mostly saturating the area rather than firing at specific targets, making Strike, Pulverizer and Zero break their formation as well.

Seeing no use in firing wildly anymore, Mu focused his attention on the closest target – Buster. Both machines opened up with everything they had, but neither could gain an advantage. Even though the Buster was outmaneuvered by the much faster Zero, it's Phase Shift armor rendered useless every shot Mu managed to land.

Kira took several beam shots to his shield and snapped off a few potshots of his own. He saw Blitz making a beeline for the Archangel and tried to shoot it down, but before he could get a better aim, the Duel forced him to dodge to the side by firing several precise shots that barely missed. "It's that Mobile Suit again." Kira muttered and concentrated his attention on Duel. Since the last time Kira had fought against Duel, his skills had improved and he was able to go on the offensive from time to time, instead of constantly falling back and hiding behind the shield.

The problem was that it was the same for Yzak, who had spent a lot of time on the simulators honing his skills. His attacks were more aggressive than before and more accurate as well. Beam after beam splattered against Strike's shield as he pressed the attack, evading or blocking the return fire. But no matter how hard Yzak tried, he was unable to land a shot on any other surface than the shield. Every time he slowed down in order to aim better, Kira would fire back, forcing him to defend. Sometimes for longer than he liked.

The Blitz darted past the Zero and avoided several poorly aimed shots from the Strike, but when a pair of highly charged orbs of plasma nearly blew off its legs, the black Nicole was forced to dodge, something which killed all the speed he had built up. "Damn you!"Nicole moved out of the way as another pair of azure bolts were fired at him. It didn't take long for him to locate the Muscle Tracer, especially when it constantly kept on firing at him. "Dearka, where are you? Mantis is here and I can't reach Archangel if that thing is in the way!" Nicole fired a few shots in attempt to ward off the enemy. The enemy machine awkwardly dodged the handful of beams, but quickly recovered and renewed its attack.

"…ing bastard! … I'm coming! Hold on!" Nicole noted that Dearka sounded like he was seriously pissed off. That Mobile Armor was probably putting up quite a fight. Nicole didn't waste any time replying, his friend's hands were full already. Instead he turned around and switched to offensive. He wasn't afraid to fight this enemy. Nicole simply understood that attacking the Archangel while being pursued by the Mantis might cause him to make a mistake. A mistake, which might prove fatal. That's why he decided to fight, maybe disable the strange Mobile Suit until Dearka got here and wasted the bastard, leaving him free to destroy the Archangel.

Blitz's transition form defensive to offensive startled Daniel. He tried to put some distance between them, but it was too late. He had nowhere to run. _Greeeaat, you pissed him off! What now, genius? _A tiny voice in his mind said, when Blitz let loose with the beam rifle and even fired the Gleipnir anchor. Daniel had no time to answer as he put the Pulverizer trough a series of twists, which almost moved him out of the line of fire. Almost. He did manage to evade the beams, but the Gpleipnir anchor connected. Slamming into Pulverizer's right shin, the armor-piercing tip penetrated deep into the leg while knocking back the Muscle Tracer.

"FUCK! NO!" Daniel outcried the alarms. A glance at the damage displays showed him that, despite the impressive power behind it, the anchor had failed to actually sever the leg. Mostly due to the toughness of the armor, which had prevented the projectile from punching cleanly trough the limb. Then the line tightened, the Blitz was pulling him closer in order to finish the job.

Ashamed and angry by being treated like some sort of a fish, Daniel growled and ignited the laser blades and used them to cut the cable. Now that he was able to move freely again, Daniel wanted nothing more than to kill the bastard. Mashing down the triggers for his plasma cannons, he charged the Blitz, waving the laser blades like a madman, while screaming like one too. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU SONUVA BITCH!" He announced to the entire battlefield trough an open channel.

"Not if you can't see me." Nicole blocked few of the better-aimed plasma bolts and engaged the Mirage Colloid. He was sure to quickly evacuate the area since his enemy proceeded to saturate his former location, hoping to score a lucky hit.

No such luck. The enemy was gone. "Come out you cowardly bastard. Where are you!" Daniel foamed, shooting wildly in every direction, a fraction of his mind noticed that one of the displays was blinking, or he thought it was blinking. But he quickly dismissed it as the thought failed to register in his rage-driven mind.

"I'm right here." His enemy replied and a second later shot the Pulverizer twice in the back. The armor smoked, sparked and melted, but held. Daniel was thrown forward by the impact and pulled back by the restraints a second later, leaving him slightly dizzy and confused. Things didn't look good, if it went on like this, the Blitz will eventually destroy him. He had to find a way to find his enemy.

"Daniel, watch out! Get away from there!" Miriallia's voice scared him. Not bothering to pick a specific location he gunned the boosters launching the machine forward at full speed. Once he dared to spare a look behind he find out the reason for Miriallia's warning.

About a half of dozen cluster missiles saturated a huge area more thoroughly than he could ever possibly do. Countless, tiny bomblets, fired from the missiles, were a nightmare for aircrafts, lightly armored vehicles and other, relatively unarmored targets. If the enemy pilot was somewhere in that area, he had only two opinions. One was to die for his country by being turned into Swiss cheese or, drop the Mirage Colloid to activate the Phase Shift armor and risk being exposed to further attacks.

And there he was. One the far side of the bombarded area, Blitz appeared from nowhere only scant seconds before being pelted by dozens of explosive fragments. All of which exploded harmlessly against the advanced armor.

"Got you!" Daniel grinned and ignited his boosters, ready to fight again. He didn't get very far before a high caliber beam crossed his path.

"Where are you going off to? C'mere I can kill you just as good as the other guy." Dearka taunted, forcing himself to sound casual even as he tried to fight off the damaged, but still persistent Mobile Armor.

Daniel risked a glance at the Blitz. The black Mobile Suit had abandoned the fight, favoring the Archangel instead. "Fuck you!" Daniel yelled back and once again pressed the triggers. However, he didn't get much shots off when the cannons stopped firing, the laser blades flickered and died along with most of the displays in the cockpit, leaving Daniel with only the main screen and a severely limited movement performance.

"What the fuck! Shoot, damn you!" Daniel pressed the triggers, but nothing happened. He noticed that one of the few remaining screens was blinking, but before he could take a closer look, the Buster's pilot spoke again.

"If you're not moving, it only makes it easier." Dearka sensed an excellent opportunity. Dropping the defense for a moment and receiving a few harmless hits from the gunbarrels, he pointed his beam cannon at the immobile machine's already damaged back and fired.

xxxxx

The entire ship trembled when Gamov scored another hit to the stern. The attempt to help Daniel by launching the cluster missiles had cost precious time to get a better aim at the Laurassia class. The Archangel was able to fire its port Gottfried only and after continuous use, the weapon was close to overheating.

"Damage report!" Murrue straightened herself from the impact. "How long until the rendezvous?"

"Seventy two percent armor failure on port side and stern. The temperature is rising rapidly, we won't be able to survive for long."

"Approximately three minutes, elements of the 11th fleet should be entering visual range soon."

Murrue listened to the reports and gritted her teeth. _We are on the finish line already. We can't stop now. Not after we went trough all that trouble. There must be a way out of this! There must be!_

"Blitz approaching!"

"Shoot it down!" Natarle ordered, fighting not to let her emotions bleed into her voice. "What are the Strike, Pulverizer and Zero doing?"

"Strike is currently engaged with Duel. Zero and Pulverizer are fighting Bu…" Sai's voice suddenly broke. Miriallia cast a puzzled look at him, but a signal from her console explained everything.

"I lost the Pulverizer's signal." Miriallia whispered before her mind caught up with her. "We lost the Pulverizer." She repeated, shocked to the very core by the realization. Next to her Sai stared blankly at the monitor, which showed the same thing. The Pulverizer was gone.

"What!?" Natarle glanced at the monitors herself and pursed her lips. _Dammit! Just when this is almost over!_ She let out a heavy sigh and prepared to inform Murrue about their first casualty, but a forceful explosion interrupted her.

"Blitz has broken trough the defensive perimeter! He's in a blind spot! Our guns can't track him!" Some one called.

"Recall the Strike!" Natarle felt her cold bloodiness kick in. The Pulverizer could wait. The Archangel could not. "Now!" She ordered when Miriallia didn't respond.

"Kira … You must return! … The Blitz is attacking the ship!" The girl said slightly sobbing, while tears ran down her cheeks. Afterwards, she put down the radio and apathetically stared at the display.

xxxxx

Kira ducked under a beheading slice and knocked Duel away with the shield. For several minutes they were using beam sabers, but no one was able to get the upper hand. He was about to begin another round, when his communications display beeped.

"Kira … You must return! … The Blitz is attacking the ship!" Miriallia's voice was a mixture of fear and overwhelming sadness.

For a moment Kira could have sworn his heart had stopped. _The Archangel is under attack!_ He turned his Mobile Suit around just in time to witness an explosion beneath the bridge. _No, it can't be!_ He remembered the destruction of the advance party and how he promised Flay to protect everyone. _I can't allow that to happen! I promised! _The single thought pushed away any other thoughts or doubts. He felt resole unlike ever before, fill his body and mind.

And then, in his mind he saw a purple jewel slowly falling trough darkness, hitting an invisible surface and explode in a shower of bright light, which instead of blinding him made everything perfectly clear and obvious. Any doubts were gone. He was going to save the Archangel. It was that simple.

Kira jerked the controls just in time to avoid being sliced in half by Duel. The Strike adroitly spun around the blue Mobile Suit before Yzak could realize what was going on. A second later, Strike's beam saber struck the side of the cockpit and only Yzak's reflexes saved him from certain death as he unconsciously pulled away barely far enough to survive.

The Strike didn't stay to finish the job; Kira had other, more pressing matters to attend to. The white Mobile Suit took off with all the speed it could muster towards the Archangel. Still, undefeated, Yzak pulled out his beam rifle and fired, but he was surprised how easily Kira dodged the beams. It was as if Yzak was intentionally trying not to hit the Strike.

"I missed? What the hell is going on?" Yzak exchanged the beam rifle for a beam saber. "If I can't shoot him, then I'll just have to cut him to pieces." He said and went after his enemy.

To Nicole, it reminded a bit about his fight with the Mantis, when Kira suddenly charged him with the beam saber. He managed to jump away, but was caught off guard when Kira recovered almost instantly and charged him again, this time kicking the Blitz in the chest, sending it tumbling away as Nicole fought to regain control of his machine.

Kira was about to continue his attack on Blitz, when Yzak caught up with him and tried to take him out with a thrust to the chest. However, for Kira everything seemed to happen so slowly, that he managed not only to dodge by dropping Strike to its knees, but also attack by releasing his beam saber and pulling out the combat knife from the hips. With a lightning fast motion, he jabbed the knife into Duel's side. Exactly the same place, which was damaged by his beam saber a few moments ago.

This time Yzak was unable to move Duel away. Everything happened too fast for him to follow. With a dreadful noise, the combat knife cut trough the internal stricture, partially breaching the cockpit and causing serious damage to most of the control systems. Several screens exploded directly into Yzak's face, shattering the visor and leaving deep cuts on his face.

Without giving the enemy a chance to recover, Strike kicked Duel in the chest, propelling it away from the Archangel, where it was soon picked up by Nicole's Blitz. "Yzak, Yzak are you okay?" When Yzak didn't answer he contacted Dearka. "Dearka, Duel is damaged! I can't get a response from Yzak."

"What!? Yzak is wounded?"

"I think so. He took a bad hit to the cockpit."

"Shit!" Dearka punched the main screen. "Okay, we're falling back! We've done enough here already."

Kira landed the Strike back on the Archangel, watching as the enemy Mobile Suits fell back to Gamov with Blitz holding the damaged Duel and Buster providing cover if anyone tried to pursue them. Kira let them leave; he had no intention of continuing this battle. Especially when the Archangel was safe and he could already see several Alliance ships in the distance.

"It's over." He sighed, surprised how tired he actually was. He had no idea what caused him to be able to dispatch his enemies so quickly, but it seemed to be taking a lot out of him. He'd never felt so tired in his life.

Suddenly, he had a bad feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong. He glanced at his communications display. Usually he could hear his friends cheerfully welcoming him back, but this time there was nothing, but eerie silence.


	11. CircCity, part I

"Hey, the kid not only survived, but brought back a souvenir as well." Chief Murdoch's gruff voice was the first thing Daniel heard when he left the cockpit. Walking across towards the side of Pulverizer's chest he looked over the side and realized what exactly the mechanic was talking about. The Gleipnir anchor was still lodged in his machine's right shin.

"Yeah. Looks like it!"Daniel shouted back, staring at the machine's leg. However, his thoughts weren't on the big piece of metal. Daniel was sure, that Murdoch and his men would repair the damage … somehow. His thoughts had taken him back to the events in space, when Buster had almost killed him. Only by Mu's quick intervention he was saved. The intervention took form as a gunbarrel, which was placed in the beam's path. That and Duel suffering damage, something which seemed to alarm Buster's pilot, forcing him to break off and retreat. By all means he should be dead right now, floating in space as nothing more than bloody vapor. All because he'd failed to notice the warning about Pulverizer's energy level.

After the Buster had pulled away and left him alone, Daniel was able to check out the cause of the problem. It turned out that while the Pulverizer's generator could, theoretically, power the machine for infinite amount of time, it was possible to run out of power if the machine was forced to perform energy-consuming tasks for long periods of time. Reckless fire from both plasma cannons combined with constant use of laser blades and pushing boosters to maximum was one of them. It was worth remembering. Piloting without thinking was bad. Very bad.

Much to Daniel's relief, it turned out that the Pulverizer hadn't shut down forever. The system had only cut off energy from all power-hungry systems while the generator cooled down, leaving Daniel with just life support, visual sensors, short range communications and minimal maneuvering ability. After fifteen minutes, weapon systems, long-range communications, sensors and other high-end systems came back to life along with the Pulverizer's signal on Miriallia's display. Saying that everyone was relieved to hear from Daniel again was a bit of an understatement.

"Have to remember to thank Mu for pulling my ass out of fire." He reminded himself and pushed away from the Pulverizer, steering himself towards the burly mechanic who was standing in front of his machine. _Probably assessing the damage._ Daniel thought as he reached the floor. "So, how does it look like? Can you fix it?"

Murdoch sighed and shook his head. "Yes and no, kid. That anchor's as good as gone, but that's where the real problem starts. Just by looking I'm guessing that hydraulics and whatever else is inside the leg are seriously messed up. I'll know more when I take a closer look."

Daniel looked at the damage then back at the mechanic. "Doesn't sound like much of a problem to me." Murdoch glared sideways at him.

"You really think it's that easy?" A nod answered the question. "Look, kid. I told you before; we don't have spare parts for your machine. I could try to fix it by using spares from Strike, but it will take time and it also means the performance won't be the same anymore. And of course there's also the armor problem." Daniel, who was already felling down from the bad news, felt the sinking felling in his gut increase. "I don't know what's it made of, but I do know that we don't have it. And I'll need something to replace the lost armor. Hopefully, we'll get something from the 8th fleet. If not, I'll probably have to improvise." He glared at Daniel again. "Now, do you still think it's easy?"

Daniel paused for a moment and then admitted defeat. "Fine, you convinced me. Still, please try to get this machine repaired before the next battle." Murdoch scratched his head and sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, kid. I'll se what I can do, but I don't think that we'll have problems anytime soon. We have TWO fleets protecting us after all."

"I know … Well, good luck." Daniel replied and moved towards the changing room, leaving the older man to his tasks. However, there was something wrong about the current situation. Everybody aboard the Archangel knew that their destination had been changed, but the question was … where? Where were they heading?

xxxxx

A deep frown had settled on Murrue's forehead ever since they received a message from the 11th fleet's flagship, the Aggressor, ordering the Archangel to take its position between the two Agamemnon class carriers in the forward part of the formation. The frown didn't fade even as her ship took its position between the Aggressor and the hastily repaired Scipio. Murrue spared a quick glance at the display, showing the entire formation, and let out a heavy sigh. Most of the 8th fleet was positioned on the formation's outer rim while Menelaus was located in the rear, far away from them as possible.

Something didn't fell right. The orders had been short and almost demanding. Any communications with other ships had been strictly prohibited. And as soon as Archangel had taken its position the entire formation had been ordered to continue their course with all possible speed.

"Ma'am, incoming message from Admiral Kane Meicoon." A voice pulled Murrue out of her thoughts.

"On screen." She quickly commanded and straightened herself even as she fought down a wave of dislike. Murrue knew that name. In fact almost everyone in the Earth Alliance military knew. Especially those, who served in space. Admiral Kane Meicoon was the man who led the attack on Junius Seven – the opening act of the war. Her dislike increased when she recalled Archangel's recent visit to Junius Seven and saw the result of Admiral's work with her own eyes. She did, however, manage to keep her face completely neutral when Kane Meicoon's face appeared on the main screen.

At first glance, Admiral Meicoon didn't look like the typical commander you would suspect being in charge of a fleet. Instead, the thirty-something year old man reminded many of a pirate than a high-ranking officer, especially due to the golden earring in his left ear. The man was sitting in his chair like a king on a throne, his head resting on his palm, while his brown eyes darted back and forth, trying to spot as many details on the Archangel's bridge as they could. Finally, a wide smile revealed several golden teeth in his mouth as his eyes settled on Murrue.

"Heey, the famous Archangel, here at last! Some of us were getting worried when Heliopolis was, you know … destroyed." He paused for effect. "Anyway, you're back, you're safe and we can go on with our business, which also includes that nice ship of yours watching our asses while the big guys get to play politics."

"Politics? Could you please explain?" Murrue closely observed Kane's thin face, eager to find out something more besides the things she already knew.

"I probably could. But you'll find out by yourself soon enough." The Admiral leaned back in his chair, running his hand over his shaved head. The only hair on his face besides the eyebrows, was a tiny patch of beard underneath his mouth. "Oh, right. The reason why I called you is that several people will be arriving on your ship shortly. The old guy in charge will fill you in. I forgot his name, but you'll know him when you see him. So, that's probably all there is." He paused, as if trying to recall anything else that might be important.

"Excuse me, sir." Murrue used the opportunity to ask some questions. "I would like to talk to Admiral Halberton, if possible. Will he be among the people arriving on our ship?"

"No. He's busy at the moment and his presence won't be needed on the Archangel, but you'll have a chance to meet him later." Kane replied and signed off.

"So that was Kane Meicoon." Murrue heard Natarle's disappointed voice as she left the CIC and headed towards Murrue. "He certainly is … different."

"I agree, Admiral Meicoon is famous for his uniqueness." Murrue agreed as Natarle stood next to her. "In any case, I wonder why he wants to send a shuttle over here? And who are those people he was talking about?" However, Natarle wasn't listening, because a sudden though registered in her mind.

"That man said, that this entire mission is political in nature. That we are supposed to escort a group of politicians." She quietly said, searching her mind for an explanation. "I'm guessing that those are the people who will be arriving, but why? What is going on?"

"Maybe the Alliance is willing to negotiate a treaty with PLANTs. A ceasefire perhaps?" Murrue guessed, however Natarle shook her head.

"That is the only thing I'm certain they're not here to do. We have plenty of resources to continue this war and now, when the G-project has been completed, the Alliance has a decent shot at turning the tide. As for ZAFT, last time I heard they were increasing their forces in Africa, probably going after Victoria base. They won't give up such an opportunity. Maybe they have already taken the base and that gives them all the initiative in Africa they need. Whatever they are here for, it has nothing to do with ending the war." Murrue considered that, once again impressed by Natarle's logic. Despite the disagreements between them, Murrue was grateful for having aboard someone, who was governed by cold logic and strict discipline.

"I guess you're right, Natarle … Besides, he did say that the person in charge will inform us about what is going on. Frankly, I'm looking forward to this meeting, these last days have raised so many questions, that they better have some good answers." Murrue said, while keeping her gaze locked on the Aggressor outside.

xxxxx

"Gamov is to cease its pursuit of the Archangel and proceed towards following coordinates. Engaging the Alliance's 11th fleet is strictly forbidden." Dearka read the message and turned away from the display to look at Nicole and Captain Zelman. "What the fuck? Break off the pursuit and don't shoot at the Alliance's ships? Is this true or am I just seeing things?" Nicole didn't say anything, but his expression was similar to Dearka's.

"We received these orders forty minutes ago." Captain Zelman said, trying to hide the surprise in his voice. "As you can see, these orders are straight from the top. Apparently something has happened while we were chasing that damned ship."

"Straight from the top?" Dearka glanced back at the message. "What does ZAFT HQ want with us?"

"They're not from the HQ, the orders were issued by the High Council." Zelman corrected.

"High Council? Now I really must know what the hell happened? … Hmm, it doesn't say anything else." Dearka carefully read the orders for the third time and sighed. Why when something important was going on everyone had to be so mysterious?

"What did Commander Le Creuset say? Did Vesalius receive the same orders?" Nicole asked thoughtfully.

"Commander Le Creuset said, that Vesalius will rendezvous with us at those coordinates after they drop off Lady Lacus … Now, excuse me, we must depart as soon as possible." The Captain replied and left.

"Yzak won't be happy about this." Dearka murmured as they moved trough the hallways several minutes later. "Why do I have to tell him something like this?"

"You don't have to." Nicole shrugged. "He'll find out by himself anyway." Dearka shot him an incredulous look.

"Are you insane!? If Yzak founds out that we've been keeping something like this from him. He'll probably push us trough an airlock without a spacesuit."

Nicole considered that and couldn't help agreeing. "Okay, I understand ... By the way how is he? I heard he was hurt pretty bad."

"Well, I managed to get him to the sickbay and the doctor should be done by now." Just as Dearka finished his sentence they both spotted Yzak leaving the sickbay on the far end of the hallway. Their comrade now sported bandages, which covered half of his face and an aura of hate, strong enough to kill a small animal. "Hey, Yzak!" Dearka called and walked over to him, with Nicole close behind.

"How are you feeling?" Nicole asked, when they were within easy speaking distance. He had a good idea about how Yzak was feeling, but this question seemed to be the most appropriate for the situation.

Yzak pretended to consider his answer. "How am I feeling? Like I've caught a face full of fucking glass, idiot! Shit, could you even ask a more stupid question than that?" Yzak's harsh reply forced Nicole to unconsciously take a step back.

"Oh, sorry." He held up his hands placatingly. "I didn't want to upset you."

"Will you shut the FUCK UP? The more you talk, the more you piss me off. Do yourself a favor and don't say a fucking word! … And what the fuck are you smiling at?" His gaze shifted to Dearka, who couldn't hold back a small grin.

"I never though I'd see you this angry, it's actually…" He didn't get any further when Yzak stepped forward, grabbed him by his collar and showed him against the wall. "Whoa, whoa! Calm down Yzak. I was just kidding!"

"I don't want to listen to your shitty jokes! If you won't shut up, I swear I'll smear you all over this wall."

"Fine, but then you'll never find out the news I brought you." Dearka said in a tight voice as Yzak's grip slowly tightened.

"I'm listening."

"First, you let me go." Dearka shook his head. It was hard to do while being pressed against the wall. Yzak paused for a moment and then slowly and regretfully, he let him go. "Thanks." Dearka muttered and corrected his uniform, smoothing out all the marks, he'd obtained because of his joke. A short cough turned his attention back to Yzak, who was now standing in the middle of the hallway with his arms crossed. "Well, we received new orders … but you won't like them. Especially after that accident of yours." He briefly pointed at Yzak's wound.

"Hurry up, damn it!"

"Yes, uh, I'll be blunt. We're ordered to leave that ship alone and rendezvous with Vesalius in the middle of nowhere."

"WHAT!?" Yzak exclaimed, his gaze traveling from Dearka to Nicole and back. Nicole, still mindful about the warning, nodded. "FUCK! They can't do this! We're not going anywhere until I've killed that bastard who did this to me!"

Dearka arched an eyebrow. "Yzak, these orders came from the High Council. There is nothing you can do to change them." Yzak glared at him and uttered a silent curse. Then he turned around and stormed off, still muttering curses under his breath.

Dearka watched him leave and when he was sure that Yzak was out of earshot, he turned his attention to Nicole. "Well, that was an interesting conversation. He has never been so pissed off before. That wound probably runs a lot deeper than it seems." Nicole stared at him, caught off guard by Dearka's cheerful tone.

"How can you be so calm? He just threatened to kill you."

"It's Yzak." Dearka waved it off. "When you know him for a long time, you get used to him." He paused for a moment and continued more thoughtfully. "On the other hand, I don't think those were empty threats either." He thought for a moment and shook his head. "Anyway he's probably sitting in the simulator right now, or yelling at Captain Zelman in order to get this ship turned around ... I should probably go and find him. Whenever Yzak gets upset, he can't get around without my helpful hand." Dearka grinned and nonchalantly went the same way as Yzak had gone a few minutes ago.

Nicole could only watch him leave in disbelief, now he really wished that Commander Le Creuset were here. He was one of the very few people that could actually reign the hotheaded Coordinator in. However, the Commander was on Vesalius, so for now, everyone aboard the Gamov would have to endure Yzak's bad mood until he calmed down or met the Commander, whichever came first.

xxxxx

Murrue couldn't deny that she was anxious. But no matter how impatient she felt, it made little impact on the shuttle in front of her, as she, along with Natarle, Mu and few others of the Archangel's original bridge crew, stood in the hangar to meet the new arrivals. Only an hour had passed since the conversation with Admiral Meicoon, but for her it seemed like eternity. While waiting always made everyone feel nervous, the last part of the waiting, while the docking procedures were taken care of were almost killing her.

Finally the main hatch on the small vessel's side hissed and slid open, allowing its passengers to get off. They instantly noticed, that all passengers were civilians. Politicians who probably had some influence in the military, but civilians nonetheless. That was until two people in distinctive black and crimson uniforms emerged from the shuttle. Unlike others, they didn't gather near the shuttle, but headed directly towards Murrue and other officers. As they approached, Murrue used the chance to get a good look at them.

The man in front was probably in his late forties, judging by the look on his face. His dark brown hair with more than a few shades of grey further fortified this theory. Despite this, the Colonel, judging by the rank insignias, walked as if he was barely thirty years old. Finally, in his left hand there was a metallic briefcase, looking just like the ones used to transport vital information.

When Murrue's eyes fell on the pale skinned man behind the Colonel, she realized that he had seen him on Artemis. She'd only seen him for a moment, but Murrue knew that this was the same man. A brief look at him, told her that this man, wearing a Major's uniform, was only a few years older than her. Certainly not more than thirty. All thoughts about the man's age were banished when she looked into his bluish-grey eyes for a fraction of a second. That brief moment was enough to send a cold shiver down her spine and made her take a sharp breath. The cold look in those eyes was unnerving. Murrue had seen a lot of cold glares in her time as an officer. But this, was different, there was something horribly wrong about that gaze.

"Good day. There is no need for introductions or formalities. I already know who you all are." Murrue was so caught up in her thoughts that she failed to realize, that both men were standing in front of them. "I am Colonel Viktor Vladimirovich Nodokov. You don't have to know which unit I'm with, but all I can tell you is that I'm with the Alliance Federation's Military Intelligence." The Colonel said in a calm voice that cleared any doubts about who was in charge here, while snapping off a quick salute that Murrue couldn't begin to answer. "This is Major Domenic Moore. Same unit. Now, I understand you have questions about what's going on so I'd prefer if we talk somewhere a bit more private." He meaningfully shook the briefcase.

"Excuse me, but that is out of the question." One of the envoys, apparently the one in charge, since the politicians had been waiting for him to leave the shuttle, said from behind them in a tone that reminded many of an aristocrat talking to peasants as he lead the small group towards them. "The information is supposed to remain a secret."

"A secret? You mean like that secret over there?" Domenic sneered and jerked his head towards the Pulverizer. "Or the fact, that this ship is supposed to escort your pathetic asses to Circ-City and the entire fucking fleet is coming with us."

"That's enough!" Viktor rised his hand. Domenic, who was about to say something else, fell silent, but that didn't stop him from glaring at the politician. "Mister Dyle, you are here to deal with the representatives from Circ-City, not to enforce security. And while you are, officially, in charge, do not fool yourself by thinking that you actually run the show. Those are two different things. Are we clear about this?" His tone didn't make it a question. The envoy almost visibly shrunk under his gaze and eventually nodded. Satisfied with his little victory Viktor turned back to face Murrue. "Mr. Dyle and his aides will require some rooms, if you have any. And I would prefer to start our little meeting as soon as possible."

"Yes, of course. The meeting room is this way. Please, follow me" Murrue replied, heading towards the lifts, with everyone following close behind. "And I'll have someone prepare officers' quarters."

Approximately thirty minutes later, with the delegates settled in their rooms and Domenic leaving them to explore the ship, Murrue, Mu and Natarle met Viktor in the Archangel's meeting room. "So what exactly is going on?" Mu asked the second he entered the room. "Everyone's been talking about something big going on, but won't say a thing to us. Frankly, I'm tired of being kept in the dark."

"Please, sit." Viktor pointed at the chairs across the table in the middle of the room. He waited until all three officers had taken their places before reaching down and placing the briefcase on the table, while he himself remained standing. Unlike before, he appeared more relaxed and even friendlier, but his voice still remained quiet and serious. "What I'm about to tell you might sound unbelievable, but soon, you will find out for yourselves." He looked over them and opened his briefcase to take out a few photos, which he slid across the table. "A little more than a week ago, we picked up a strange space station heading towards Earth." He ignored the surprised gasps from the Archangel's officers when they saw Circ-City. "The space station is called Circ-City and that is our destination." He paused, allowing the words to sink in. "Before you ask, no, Circ-City wasn't built on Earth, in fact it has arrived from outside the Solar system."

"It wasn't built on Earth? Where is it from then? And how do you know all this?" Mu managed, his voice choking a little as his mind tried to comprehend the facts. After a quick glance he saw the he was the first to recover from this epic bombshell. Murrue and Natarle were still looking at the photos with confusion clearly evident on their faces.

"It doesn't matter how I know about this. And I strongly advise you not to pursue this topic any further." Viktor warned while firmly staring at them. "As for your other questions, Circ-City arrived from a planet in the Alpha Centauri system."

"Sir, with all due respect, nut if you want us to believe in aliens from another planets, you will have to bring up more evidence instead of asking us to believe something like this." Natarle pinched the bridge of her nose. She could practically feel her brains tighten like a muscle under tension. "For all we know, Circ-City could be a NGO (non-governmental organization) owned installation from L4 colony cluster."

Viktor almost glared at her, but gave it a second thought instead. He couldn't help chuckle after he considered the facts from their point of view. No wonder they didn't believe him. "I don't expect you to believe me, after all you will find out everything for yourselves soon enough. But I will tell you something, which will explain a part of this." He paused for a second to gather his thoughts. "First of all, it has nothing to do with aliens. Circ-City is simply a legacy of project Utopia launched way back in AD era. Now, we all know that FTL (faster than light) travel is impossible, but considering humanity's level of technology before Reconstruction War, fact that large amounts of information were lost or destroyed during the same war and that this was supposed to be a secret project, give us enough of a grey zone to come up with a plausible theory."

"In short, this project Utopia was launched by Earth to explore Alpha Centauri system, using FTL technology and now those same people are coming back to Earth with Circ-City?" Mu summed up although it was clear that he still didn't fully believe in all that.

Viktor nodded in agreement. "Correct and we're going to meet them and offer our cooperation and to get more details about the project as well. As for why all of you are coming with us, it's to present a show of force. So that they don't get strange ideas."

"What about PLANTs? What are they going to do about this?"

"Unfortunately, it seems that they also know about Circ-City and have dispatched a fleet of their own. But we don't have to worry about them. A few days ago we agreed on a ceasefire in the vicinity of Circ-City and 11th fleet, so you are safe with us. "

"Then why are all the emissaries on this ship?" Murrue spoke for the first time since the beginning of the meeting. "Archangel is not part of the 11th fleet, your people would be safer on the Aggressor."

"It is part of the ceasefire agreement. Only one ship from both sides will be allowed near the Circ-City while the initial meeting is in progress and because this is the most advanced ship currently in service, we think that it might send the correct message. In a nutshell that is all. Are there any questions?"

"Just one. What do we tell everyone aboard this ship? We won't be able to keep a secret like this forever." Murrue asked.

"Even though there are people who would prefer you not telling about this to anyone else. I don't think whether you keep this a secret or not actually matters and it won't be a secret for long anyway, so there's no point in hiding it." Viktor pointed out. "Feel free to inform your crew. Anything else? … Then I guess we're done here." He began gathering his photos, pausing only to return the salute when the three officers left the room. _All that remains now is to get to the Circ-City and forge the beginning of a new era. _The Colonel thought before closing his briefcase.

xxxxx

Domenic narrowed his eyes at the Pulverizer's damaged shin and intensified his glare. He did that for two reasons. One was because he was seriously pissed off at the unfortunate soul responsible for treating the machine like this. _If the guy was in my unit I would have ordered him hung by the balls for this. _He thought and swore then and there, that he would make sure to turn the pilot's life into a hell by whatever means possible. There was no greater sin for a soldier than neglecting his weapon.

The other reason was hangover. All that drinking yesterday had made his head fell like it had been used as a basketball. For a whole season. All that shitty feeling in the rest of his body didn't help things either. _How is that guy unaffected is beyond me. He drank almost twice as much as I did. _Domenic rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. At least he could stand on his own, without holding onto something. But who knew how long it would to feel like a human again.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing over there!?" Someone yelled from behind him. Domenic could have sworn that his hangover disappeared like it had never been there. Who, in their right mind, had the balls to yell at him? Much less in a tone like that? He turned around and saw a boy in Ensign's uniform walking towards him. Domenic took a closer look and grinned. The black haired boy certainly looked pissed off, but the bravado was only an illusion. An illusion, which disappeared as soon as he realized that no one saw him as a threat. _Teenage boys. Thinking only with their dicks or muscles. Might as well have some fun with him._ Domenic's grin grew even wider as he fully faced the boy.

The somewhat dim part of the hangar and the dark colors prevented Daniel from properly seeing Domenic's uniform until it was too late. The angry look disappeared from Daniel's face when he realized that the man was a Major and when he looked into the Major's eyes he stopped completely. _Oh, shit! Me and my big mouth!_

"What's wrong boy? Where did all that anger go?" Domenic looked at the frozen boy like a predator on a prey. "I thought you came here to kick my teeth in. Don't tell me you changed your mind, boy."

"S-sorry …"

"S-sowwy?" Domenic mocked Daniel's voice and took a step towards the boy. When Daniel immediately took an involuntary step back, he shook his finger no. "No. You stand right there, boy! If you're brave enough to show disrespect to superior officers, you should be brave enough to stand your ground and take responsibility." He stopped barely a meter away from Daniel and looked him over with a disappointed look on his face. "You're too young for the armed forces. How old are you, boy? Sixteen?"

"Uh-huh." Daniel nodded trying to look anywhere else than at the man in front of him.

"Is that how you talk to an officer?"

"I don't know! I'm a volun…" Daniel wanted to say, but was unable to finish the sentence when Domenic suddenly rushed forward and drove a solid fist into his stomach. The punch made Daniel feel like his insides were wrapped around his spine as he sunk to his knees, arms around his stomach and coughing wildly while trying to regain his breath. The intense pain also caused tears to well up in his eyes, making everything appear blurry and distorted. He tasted something sour in his mouth but couldn't work up the strength to spit it out. Daniel was still lying on the ground, gasping for breath when he heard Domenic speak again.

"There, you took responsibility for your actions. Probably for the first time in your life, you little piece of shit." The voice was coming from nearby; probably the Major had knelt down. "Now that you've repented. Do you mind answering a few questions?"

"No … sir." Daniel had no idea where he got the strength for the "sir" part. Apparently fear was a major motivation. It seemed Domenic thought that as well.

"And they say that violence solves nothing." Domenic chuckled again. "Now, what's your name? And you can drop the "sir" part. I never had a thing for formalities."

"Daniel … Daniel Stokes." Domenic's eyes narrowed when he heard the name.

"Hmm, Stokes, Stokes. I know that name … Wasn't your old man Christopher Stokes?" A nod answered that question as Daniel slowly climbed up to his feet again. Domenic also rose to his feet and cast a suspicious glance at the boy. "That means you're the pilot of the Pulverizer, right?" He pointed over his shoulder at the machine behind him. Shock and surprise crossed Daniel's face when Domenic said the machine's name.

"How do you know…"

"About the Pulverizer? There are a lot of things I know about that thing, you haven't even the slightest idea about."

"Tell me." Daniel suddenly demanded and even stepped closer to him. Driven by the fact that this man knew something about the Pulverizer made his forget his fear. Domenic stared at him in surprise before bursting into laughs.

"You got some balls, boy, I'll give you that … do you really expect me to tell you everything I know?"

"Tell me dammit!" Daniel half shouted and once again realized that he had made a mistake. A gun's muzzle was firmly pressed against his forehead barely a second later.

"Don't tempt me, boy." Domenic warned in a low voice, his eyes observing the boy with their usual coldness. He twisted the gun, putting more pressure on Daniel's forehead. "The only reason I haven't blown out your fucking brains is that I knew your old man. But if you keep acting like this, I'll make sure that you'll join your parents very soon. Understand?"

It was then, standing in the Archangel's hangar in front of the Pulverizer and with a gun at his head, that Daniel finally realized the seriousness of the situation. This man, whoever he was, wasn't joking. Daniel was certain that the man could kill him then and there and, judging by how hard the man was pressing the gun against his head, he really had to come up with a reason for the man not to shoot him. He looked to his side, as much as he could without turning his head. Only a few people were in the hangar, all of them too far away to help. And certainly too far to stop a bullet. He was on his own. "Yes, I understand." Daniel looked back at the officer and even threw in another nod, so that there were no uncertainties, however, he still couldn't find a good enough reason.

"Good." Domenic said, the gun not moving for a bit. "Now, answer my questions. Does this Pulverizer work normally?"

"Yes, once you activate the Muscle Trace linkup."

"Good enough to survive a battle?"

"Yes. I've already shot down three GINNs." Daniel replied with a tiny hint of pride.

"Three GINNs, you?" Domenic frowned incredulously and slowly, almost hesitatingly, removed the gun. "What were you fighting, boy? A bunch of brain dead retards? … Never mind. What did you find out from the information database? Just the name of the files."

"Not much … Just the mission objectives and that the Primal Threat has to do something with Ravens." Daniel answered; having no idea whether the man had any idea what he was talking about, but now that the gun was gone, he was ready answer any questions the man asked.

"Is that all? Shit, then this machine has no intelligence value at all." Domenic muttered to himself, sparing a frustrated glance at the blue machine. On the other hand it wasn't that much of a problem, since this machine's true value was something else.

"Um, sir … What's a Raven?" Daniel gritted his teeth, cursing his curiosity. _Why can't I keep my fucking mouth shut for once!? Just when that guy decides not to kill me I have to go and ask a stupid question. Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

Domenic glanced at him with a corner of his eye. The boy was seriously fucked in the head. Just when he had climbed out of one pit, he instantly jumped in the next one. However, something stayed his hand. The boy was already involved with the Pulverizer, he had tasted combat, plus his father was the man in charge of developing G-weapons and studying the Pulverizer, and finally, the boy was from Atlantic Federation. Maybe he could answer some of his questions for a change. Nothing much, just a little something. "Ravens are AC pilots, boy. Mercenaries. And AC stands for Armored Core. That is all you will hear from me, boy."

Despite having dozens of other questions, even Daniel understood that no other questions would be tolerated. Fortunately, his mouth realized that as well because no sudden question crossed his lips. Besides, he had to digest this new information anyway. He knew that the bastard had deliberately given him incomplete answer. Something to tease him with. Because the only thing worse than an answer which didn't explain anything was an answer which rised more questions. Specifically, what the hell was a Armored Core? And why these mercenaries were considered to be so dangerous? He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize that the man was leaving until he heard Domenic's voice coming from behind him.

"Don't think about those questions, you'll find answers soon enough. And if you really want to make it out of my black list, boy, you'll make sure that this Pulverizer reaches Alaska in one piece!"

Daniel stared at the officer with a puzzled look. _This Pulverizer? What the hell did that mean?_

xxxxx

_Why do the emergency lights have to be so dim? If it's an emergency, it should be only logical for the lights to be bright, so that everyone could see. _Jack stared at the dim, reddish lights at the ceiling. _Instead they decide to make everything appear like out from a horror movie, by making people look like monsters._ He finished the unusual thought and lowered his gaze to look the closest man in the eyes. "I guess you don't want to settle this in a diplomatic manner?" He said and swallowed. It was hard to do that, especially with a knife against your throat.

"Oh, now you want to be civil, Jack?" The man holding the knife hissed and applied more pressure. Forcing the boy to almost become one with the wall. "You brought this on yourself when you decided to fuck with us."

"I wasn't fucking with you. You hired me to defend your warehouse and I did just that."

"Yes, and after that you destroyed the warehouse yourself." Another man, standing in the hallway to Jack's left, pointed out. There were mutters of agreement from the remaining two people, standing watch nearby and keeping an eye on the boy who was gradually pressed more and more against the wall by their leader. "That wasn't in the contract."

"True, but I'm talking about another contract." Jack croaked. "The one I received from the same person who wanted to destroy whatever stuff you were hiding there." Upon reflection, that wasn't the best thing to say. Telling everyone that you worked for both sides did nothing to increase your life expectancy.

"So, we got ourselves a double-dealing rat… Do you know what we do to guys like you?" The man grinned and then waved his hand at his thugs. As one, they turned around to fully face Jack and his captor and pulled out their guns.

"Whoa, whoa! Guys! What are you doing?" Jack's eyes widened as his gaze quickly jumped from one weapon to another. "Guns aren't allowed here!"

"That's why we have them." The man with the knife stepped back a little and threw a sudden punch at Jack's nose. He didn't break it, but it got messed up pretty bad.

"Fag you, baztad." The boy cursed, realizing that the guns were only there to distract him. These guy knew how to deal with people like Jack.

"Now, now Jack. Watch your mouth, or I might not be so merciful any more." The leader said over his men's laughs, watching Jack bend in half so that the blood wouldn't stain his clothes. He allowed it to go on for a moment. "Now, I will tell you what we're going to do with you. We're not going to kill you. We will just take whatever you have, sell it and use the money to place a bounty on your head. Won't it be ironic, when someone accepts the contract and kills you? Your life will be ruined just like mine with a simple "Contract accepted". Hell, we should even throw in some special demands, like asking that your eyes should be cut out before killing you or something exclusive like that. What do you think?" Judging by the jeers, his men agreed wholeheartedly, while Jack continued to hold his hand to his nose. "Now, c'mon, Jack, let's go and get this over with." He was reaching out to grab the boy, when everything went down the drain.

With a sudden movement Jack jumped forward, his left hand aimed at the man's side. The leader only had a fraction of a second to realize that Jack was holding what was commonly known as a shiv in his hand, before jabbing it deep into his armpit as Jack moved past and under his arm. Using the element of surprise, Jack ran towards where the shortest man of the group was obstructing the hallway. Moving faster than most people his age Jack reached his next opponent before they realized what was going on. With slowing down, the boy used all his momentum to shove the thug aside and made his run for freedom.

"Fuck, he's too fast!" Someone yelled from behind, shortly before bullets started raining down the dark corridor. Luckily, all of them missed their intended target as Jack crouched low and zigzagged towards the nearest hatch with all the speed he could muster. He was lucky. The hatch was equipped with a motion sensor, which still seemed to be working, because the second he got near, the hatch slid open, allowing him to keep running without loosing much of his speed. The shots behind him became more and more quiet, before dying down eventually.

He was safe … for now. The enemy wasn't pursuing him. They had their boss to take care of and without any money, placing a reasonable bounty on him was going to be extremely difficult. With a strong sniff, Jack tried to stop the bleeding, while simultaneously looking around for an exit. He also made a note to never reply to mysterious calls, asking him to visit the maintenance level.

"Hmm, looks like the bleeding stopped." He looked at the palm of his hand and then wiped it against the nearby wall. "Better ask Ashley to take a look at it later. But for now, I think that I should hide somewhere until those bastards calm down." He looked around and noticed an elevator. During the brief moment it took for the elevator car to arrive, Jack decided to head for the docking area. Ever since departing, the place was mostly abandoned and few people hung around there. Of course, there were rumors going around, that something big was about to happen there, but Jack didn't pay much attention to that. After spending more than a week in this place, strange rumors were the least of your worries. Not with all those crazies running around and threatening to take everything you owned.

"The day I let them take my stuff, will be a fucked up day indeed." Jack laughed and entered the elevator. "Well, here's for a few days in the docking area." He muttered and pressed the button.

* * *

**A/N** - Okay, a whole lot of dialogue and barely any action in this chapter. As you all can see, this is where I'm introducing (or at least trying) the Armored Core universe into the story, and because words are mightier than the sword, a lot of dialogue is to be expected. Anyway, this marks the beginning of the second arc and you can expect a lot of new characters making their appearance. Some of them already have. Also, logically, ACs will also soon appear and that is where the biggest challenge lies, to find a balance between Mobile Suits and Armored Cores.

Okay, I've mumbled enough for one time. Next chapter - Circ-City, part II will be up as soon as I finish it.

- Asmus


	12. CircCity, part II

"So, this is Circ-City … That thing is huge!" Murrue muttered to herself as her eyes tried to take in the entire space station before the Archangel. It was one thing to see a picture of Circ-City, it was another thing to see it with her own eyes. The ZAFT fleet on the other side looked puny next to it. Circ-City easily rivaled the size of the Artemis, in fact, Murrue was certain that Circ-City was actually bigger than the destroyed Eurasian fortress.

"Now, do you believe me?" Viktor said from where he was standing next to and slightly behind her, just out of her sight.

Murrue nodded, now that she saw it with her own eyes it was hard not to. The very station itself banished most of her doubts about its origins. Upon closer inspection the whole installation looked a lot like a huge mushroom. And no one built stations like that, especially ones with such a smooth, copper brown surface that it appeared to be made of some sort of plastic rather than metal. The "cap" of the station was blistering with small groups of small lights, that Murrue assumed to be windows or something similar, with a ring of smaller lights running along the rim of the disk-shaped structure, illuminating several letters placed on the rim as well. "Circ-City" Murrue read and let out another gasp. "Incredible."

"Ma'am, we've got a message from the Aggressor. We are to proceed as planned and be ready to retreat in case of danger." Murrue nodded and turned her attention to the remaining crew.

"Begin our approach. Weapons on standby, but don't target anything yet. Communications, try to get into contact with someone on that station." The crew voiced their acknowledgments and began carrying out their tasks. "Anything on the sensors?"

"Nothing, ma'am, either we can't get trough the hull or there are..."

"Incoming communication, it's … it's from the Circ-City!"

"Put it on screen!" Murrue instantly replied and, like everyone else turned her gaze towards the main screen. For a second, there was nothing but white static as the communications system struggled to establish a clear link with strange signal. Finally the screen came to life.

"Unknown vessel, I am the artificial docking assistant ADA, please state your ID and the reason of your arrival." They heard a female voice as a woman's face appeared on the screen. For a moment Murrue thought that ADA was real. The young, narrow face with light blue eyes and short golden-blond hair looked real enough. At least until she took a closer look, the woman looked perfect, too perfect, Murrue also noticed the lack of pupils and the the whole image was slightly transparent. Other than that, ADA looked incredibly life-like.

"This is the Archangel of the Earth Alliance, we're transporting a group of envoys to participate in diplomatic negotiations with representatives of Circ-City." Murrue answered, her lips forming a slight smile of disbelief, she couldn't believe that she was talking to a computer. "Requesting permission to dock."

"Archangel, ID acknowledged and logged." ADA replied barely a second later. "You are cleared to proceed to dock 2. Stand by for markers." A moment later, two parallel lines of lights covered the area between the ship and the indicated docking mechanism. Additional markers, displaying recommended speed and trajectory also lit up.

"Fancy. This makes my job a lot easier." Neumann whistled in admiration and proceeded to guide the ship towards the docking module. Everyone patiently waited and watched as th nearest corridor extended from the station to make the docking procedure simpler. They also noticed that the dock to their left was damaged, the extendable corridor was bent as if something, that had been attached to it, had been torn off.

_Hmm ... strange, I wonder what happened? And what it was supposed to be connected to? _Viktor guessed and made a mental note to gather more information about it. While it could be a harmless accident or something along those lines, it was his job to be suspicious of everything. Besides, often the small things pointed to a disaster. Big ones meant that it was already too late. He forced himself to focus on here and now. He couldn't afford daydreaming in such a crucial moment. "What is ZAFT doing?Have they made any moves?" He barked at the communications officer.

"One of their ships is approaching the Circ-City just like we are. The remaining fleet is holding their position."

"Excellent." Viktor said and looked at Murrue. "Now, after Archangel docks with the Circ-City you are to remain here until told otherwise."

"And how long might that be?"

"If everything goes well, no longer than few hours, until the meeting begins and we're sure that everything is safe, after that you will be replaced by a ship from the 11th fleet." The man explained curtly as the Archangel began its final approach. "After that you'll be free to rendezvous with the 8th fleet."

"Hatch beacon activated, initiating docking sequence." Neumann's report interrupted their conversation. The Archangel had reached the designated dock and all that remained was to successfully connect the ship with the station.

"Hatch beacon located." ADA replied as if the AI had heard Neumann. "Stand by for connection." The extended corridor began moving towards the hatch on the Archangel's hull like a snake might approach a prey, adjusting its path with tiny thrusters to achieve maximum efficiency. Finally, the docking ring connected to the ship and immediately fused with the surface by anchoring it self via the universal locks and activating additional magnets for added safety. "Pressurizing the dock … docking sequence completed. Archangel, welcome to Circ-City. "

xxxxx

"Pressurizing the dock … docking sequence completed. Socrates, welcome to Circ-City." ADA's voice announced trough the ship's PA system.

"And so it begins." Rau quietly muttered and adjusted his mask while surveying the people nearby who were preparing to enter the station. Surrounded by guards and various aides, he saw the three people who were sent to represent PLANTs in this meeting. They were no one special. Clearly PLANTs weren't that stupid as to send one of the High Council members to an unknown meeting. However, these people weren't simple lackeys either. Sending a bunch of completely incompetent expendables to a potentially productive negotiation would mean taking the opposite extreme. Therefore the PLANT leaders had settled for the middle point. Send people smart enough to work something out, but not important that their loss would be a disaster.

Rau continued to observe the group around him and finally saw a familiar posture. Lee Dexus - Patrick Zala's so-called "spymaster". Man who apparently was responsible for obtaining the information about Circ-City. Rau watched the man run his hand trough his dark green hair, something Lee always did when he was nervous, and couldn't help but wonder. How could this small, nervous man be one in charge of ZAMI (Zodiac Alliance's Military Intelligence)? Lee was nothing that a spy should be. The man was easy to perturb and always seemed to be worried about something. Despite this appearance Rau had to admit, Lee certainly ran an efficient intelligence agency. In just a few months since its creation ZAMI agents had infiltrated the Alliance's military to such extent that ZAFT knew everything about 40 percent of Alliance's projects and suspected a great deal about 35 percent of their top projects and plans. The remaining 25 percent were still unknown, but ZAMI agents were continuously working on fixing that. With this in mind Rau sometimes wondered if all that nervousness wasn't a trick on Lee's part just to throw off any suspicions.

"Mister Dexus, I never expected to see you here." Rau moved over to the intelligence officer. The other man slightly jumped from being suddenly addressed from behind and let out a relieved sigh when he saw Rau.

"Oh, Commander Le Creuset, good to see you. Well, Chairman Zala saw it fit to send me here as well, to get a feel of the situation."

"I see, but I am more interested in how you found out about Circ-City? From what I've heard it was you who informed the High Council about Circ-City." A suspicious look crossed Lee's grey eyes.

"How do you know that?"

"Well, I've heard a lot of things in these few days since I was ordered to join this fleet." Rau smiled. Lee's suspicious look didn't vanish and Rau could hardly blame him for that. Both men shared a small, friendly rivalry when it came to outsmarting each other, especially since Rau had developed an informant network of his own and refused to share it with Lee.

"Okay, fine." Lee gave in. He realized that this was something bigger than their competition. "Few of my agents discovered that someone informed the President of the Atlantic Federation about Circ-City. However, we were unable to find out who, since our agents simply vanished afterward. All we know is that the Alliance knows a lot more about Circ-City than we do and that they are eager to work out some sort of a deal with them."

"Interesting, maybe I should see if some of my contacts can find out where the Alliance got this information from." Rau mused just loud enough for Lee to hear. _There you go. Another challenge __for you. We'll see who finds out about the Alliance's secret first. _He thought, just as the hatch doors hissed open and revealed a brightly lit corridor, connecting the Nazca class battleship Socrates with Circ-City.

Slightly nervous the PLANT delegation cautiously made its way down the corridor towards the hatch. As soon as the group got in the nearby vicinity, the hatch hissed open and revealed a small airlock with another hatch leading further into the station. Few of the party members traded worried looks. While everyone knew that it was nothing than simple airlock, no one enjoyed the feeling of being locked inside a small room on a strange space station, even if it was for a short period. However, it was clear as day, that there was no turning back. With guards being the fist ones to enter the group stepped into the airlock with Rau and Lee bringing up the rear. As expected, the hatch behind them closed and after a short moment the opposite hatch opened and led them into the first real room in Circ-City where they also met the first person on Circ-City.

Standing in the middle of the large, curved room, which seemed to be a quarter of a complete circle, was a young man or rather a boy. And while being met by a boy seemed weird, the boy's appearance was even more unusual.

The boy stood seemed to be about sixteen years old. His shoulder- length, white hair were brushed back, giving him a more mature look, further accented by the serious look in his amber eyes. Even if one failed to notice the boy's facial expression, his importance was made obvious by his outfit. Black, custom tailored business-suit with a crimson shirt and a pure white tie left no doubts about its wearer's importance.

"Greetings. My name is Gabriel Benedict Von Angelos." He said while giving a slight bow. "It is a pleasure and an honor to welcome you all to Circ-City." He paused for a moment, waiting for an answer, but when none of the surprised party members said anything, he smiled and continued. "You must one of the groups that have arrived here to negotiate with our representatives. Please, allow me to escort you to the meeting room that has been prepared for this occasion." He said politely and pointed at the several sets of elevator doors at the inside wall of the room. "Please, follow me." The entire group except for two guards, who remained to guard the way to the Socrates, followed him, while sharing muted conversations about their guide. All conversations were cut short when the bright lights flickered, leaving the group in complete darkness for a moment.

However, Gabriel seemed to be completely unruffled. "I apologize for this unpleasant surprise, but Circ-City has been experiencing several power shortages in these past few days ever since our main generators suddenly stopped working." He explained calmly as they waited for the light turn on again. "Our maintenance personnel worked hard to restore full power to the rooms we'll be using, but please bear in mind that the emergency generators might experience some problems." The lights came back on and they continued their way.

"Excuse me, but if the power supply is failing then we're in danger." One of the diplomats looked around as if expecting the station to fall apart any minute now.

"No, sir. I assure you that there is no danger for anyone on Circ-City. All the important systems are working properly. The blackouts, like the one we experienced now, are nothing more than an annoyance. One that is being taken care of as we speak." The elevator doors pinged open and he gestured them to enter. "Now, please, enter."

"Hell, if only my son had such manners." Lee whispered to Rau as the PLANT delegation entered the elevator.

xxxxx

"That's a lot of ships out there." Jack muttered with his nose pressed flat against the window as he observed the huge array of strange looking ships far away from the Circ-City. Some of them were bigger than any ship he had ever seen. Especially the three triangular-shaped giants in the middle of the formation. Until that day, the biggest ships he had ever seen were the transport shuttles that ferried materials and machinery from Utopia to Circ-City. But those three easily put them to shame, being almost twice as big. He continued to look at the myriad of ships until exclamations from the other end of the roundish hangar made it impossible to think.

"Wow! Look at those things! What are they?"

"I don't know. They look a bit like Enforcer class Muscle Tracers to me!"

"Enforcer? You fucking crazy!? Look at it! That thing is as twice as huge as any Enforcer we have. I'd say its more like an AC."

Feeling quite intrigued, Jack left his window and hurried towards the small group, gathered at the far end of the hangar, where a second window was located. Much to his surprise it turned out that the docking level was off-limits due to important meeting that was about to happen, therefore Jack had to settle with spending a few days in one of the hangar levels, located slightly above the docking level. Not that it was that much of a problem by itself. The problem was that there were always a few people in the hangar, mostly they were mechanics who were busy working with the machines being kept in there, but sometimes pilots and ordinary people were there as well. For Jack, it meant that his hiding place wasn't that safe at all, someone could always spread the word about his whereabouts to the wrong people. He didn't doubt that the bastards he ran into a few days ago were probably looking for him, eager to get some revenge and who knew how long it took for them to find out his hiding place.

In retrospect, hiding in the hangars wasn't the best idea for another reason, his machine was stored in hangar A2 and Jack knew that at least one of those guys had to be keeping watch up there. He himself was four levels lower in hangar E2. He wasn't afraid of them getting their hands on his machine, that was impossible, what he was worried about was them starting to search every hangar on the station. If they started doing that, they would eventually find him and then it would be all over again. Threats from them and pain for him.

Still depressed by his gloomy thoughts, Jack quickly looked over the small group of mechanics. Few of them cast suspicious glances at him, but that was nothing more than them simply noticing a new arrival. Jack also didn't see anyone making some calls or whispering something to others, which he took as a good sign. _Let's try to be friendly Jack, shall we? No need to give more people a reason to rat you out. _Jack took a deep breath, put on a smile that was supposed to look friendly and approached them. "Uh, what the fuck are you talking about?" _There. A nice and pleasant way to start a conversation._ The mechanics didn't respond, one of them just pointed at the window and moved aside, letting Jack get a view.

"What the..." Jack gasped when he saw a part of another fleet exactly the same distance away from the station as the first. Only this time the ships were a bit smaller and sported a completely different design. The olive green color and their shapes made some of the ships look like something out of a science fiction movie about aliens. But what caught his attention were the machines surrounding the ships. At first glance, they looked like ACs, But when he looked closer he noticed several differences. Unlike these machines, ACs didn't have clearly defined chest and stomach parts of the body. Instead ACs sported a single part known as the core, which, unlike the machines outside, was protruding towards front and back, giving them their distinctive Y-shaped profile. However, the more he looked at them the more he came to realize that these machines seemed somewhat primitive. It wasn't anything visual, old parts or battered armor or something what you could point a finger at and say "This thing is crude!" But it was there, unseen yet present in every movement of the machine.

Jack had no idea for how long he had stared at the machines until a sudden buzz woke him up from his thoughts. For a moment Jack thought that he'd imagined the sound, but when he saw that the nearby mechanics were looking at him, Jack understood what was going on. "Sorry guys, gotta go." He said and reached inside his coat as he hurried to get a little further away from them. When he was sure that the mechanics were far enough Jack pulled out a black PDA (personal digital assistant). _What the hell? A message? Now who would send me a message? _Jack wondered and began reading the message. Slowly a wide grin appeared on his face and it grew wider with every line he read. It wasn't a message, it was a contract. A very special contract.

xxxxx

For Kira it was one of those unbearable moments when he had completely nothing to do and no one to talk to. Sai, Miriallia, Tolle and Kuzzey had to take their shifts on the bridge. Daniel had once again disappeared somewhere to do whatever he had to do. Other than them there was no one else he could talk to. Even though Flay always seemed glad to see him, they didn't have that much to talk about. Mu, while cheerful and good to have around, was a grownup and Kira somehow found it hard to simply chat with him. Even if it was about an urgent matter like Circ-City.

Kira had to let out a deep sigh at that thought. Like everyone else he had been shocked by Murrue's announcement a few days ago, when she informed everyone about Archangel's destination. At first Kira found it hard to believe. Space stations from another planet? Ancient projects involving impossible levels of technology? That was science fiction stuff. Things like that didn't exist! That's what he thought, until he saw the station with his own eyes from the observation deck. Then he was forced to change his mind. Partially. A small piece of his mind still argued that there had to be another, more logical explanation for this. But until he came up with one, he couldn't help but wonder, what if Murrue's words were true? What if this Circ-City had indeed arrived from another planet?

"Then I guess a lot of things will change, isn't that right?" Kira patted his robot bird. Who was perched on his shoulder. The bird tilted his head and chirped what seemed to be a positive reply. Even though the bird couldn't talk. Kira sometimes liked to think that he understood what the small robot was trying to say. Of course it wasn't like Kira could understand exact words or thoughts. It was more like he could tell its mood or something like that. Nothing specific other than a vague idea. Still, it was enough for him. Even a companion like this was better than nothing.

The bird chirped again and suddenly took off. "Wait! Don't go!" Kira called, but the robot didn't listen. This was the only thing Kira disliked about it. Sometimes, the small robot acted like it wanted without any regards for the situation or Kira's orders. "Come back!" Kira tried again and began running after the bird as it flew further down the hallway. _Damn, sometimes I wish Athrun had built in some kind of obedience program for that thing. I don't have time for chasing it around the entire ship._ Kira quickened his pace and decided to turn the robot off after he had caught it.

The small toy apparently had decided that Kira wanted to play and began acting accordingly, always staying within view and close enough for Kira to continue his pursuit, but never flying far enough so that Kira would give up. For several minutes Kira chased the small robot around the Archangel's empty hallways, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't catch it.

The bird let out another long and merry chirp, flew around a corner and disappeared from Kira's view. _That's it! I've had enough of this! I'm done chasing it around. Might as well just let it fly around until it calms down. Then I'll turn it off for a long time._ Kira promised to himself and slowed down. However, just as he was about to turn around and head back to his room, the robot bird chirped again. This time it sounded frightened by something.

"What the fuck is this thing?" Kira heard someone speak from around the corner. "A robot bird?" Another series of frightened chirps followed, accompanied by a curse. "Oww. You little bastard!" Sensing, that his robot pet was in danger, Kira rushed towards the corner. The small toy sometimes had a habit of pecking other people, especially if they tried to hurt it. A defense mechanism of sorts. While it was nothing dangerous, since the bird wasn't strong enough to actually pierce skin, its pecks weren't exactly painless either. But judging by that voice, its owner was definitely someone who didn't like being pecked. He rounded the corner and came face to face with a boy wearing the most unusual set of clothes.

A dark blue knee-long coat, made from some kind of seemingly heavy fabric, buttoned up from waist to neck surrounded the boy's body, the collar opened wide enough for Kira to get a glance of a white T-shirt underneath. The boy was also wearing slacks with white, grey, dark blue and black splotches forming a camouflage pattern. Finally a pair of black combat boots with hobnails and iron heels in order to reduce wear completed the outfit.

"Wait, don't hurt it. He was just defending himself." Kira said, when he saw that the boy was holding the robot bird by its wings and slowly pulling them apart. "Let it go!" The boy's bluish-grey eyes slowly turned to face him and the vengeful grin was replaced by a slight frown.

"And who are you supposed to be?" He shook his head to get a few stray dark brown hairs away from his eyes. "The master of this thing?"

"Yes. Now, please give it back." Kira reached out, but the bird was pulled away before he could reach it. "I'm serious!" His words left no impression and Kira could clearly see why. The boy was not only slightly taller than him, but also more heavily built. Even though Kira was a Coordinator and certainly stronger than a Natural of his size and caliber, he wasn't sure if he could easily take this guy on.

"How serious exactly?" Apparently the very same thought was going trough his head as well. It was clearly evident by the wide grin plastered on the boy's face as he scrutinized Kira. Kira exhaled sharply, trying to calm down.

"Please. I don't need any problems, just give it back." He demanded slowly and as calmly as he could. The other boy stared at him for a moment and finally released the robot bird.

"Fine. Whatever. Here you go, but if that thing gets near me one more time, I will tear it apart. Slowly." The small robot didn't even look at Kira as it flew away as fast as it could.

Kira watched the bird leave. "Thanks." He sighed in relief and turned his attention back to the boy. The guy was unusual. He was … different, for the lack of a better word, as if he wasn't from the Archangel. "Who are you?" Kira wanted to say, but the words died in his mouth. He was completely sure that this person wasn't one of the refugees from Heliopolis. He would have noticed someone like that. There was also no way that he could be one of the diplomats from the Aggressor since they'd left for Circ-City few hours ago. _Circ-City!_ Something clicked in Kira's mind. This guy had to be from Circ-City! Now that he thought about it they weren't that far from the entrance. "Are you from Circ-City?" Kira asked just to be sure. The boy nodded once. "Do you realize that you're not supposed to be here?"

"Why not? Is it because of the meeting?" Now it was Kira's turn to nod. To which the boy replied with a short chuckle. "It doesn't mean anything. No one wants to start trouble right now, so there is no need to worry. Also, since it looks like we're here to stay I think its wise to meet people you might end up working together with. Besides, there weren't any guards by the doors, so I guess it counts as an invitation."

"Still, I don't think you should be here. You could get into trouble." But his warning was waved off.

"You worry too much. I'm just using the opportunity to meet new cli... I mean people. Therefore, if things are done the same here, my name is Jack. Jack Terossa, and its ehhh … nice to meet you. And you are?"

"I'm … Kira Yamato." Kira was more than a little confused by the sudden change in the conversation. _What's with this guy? One moment he threatens to destroy my pet robot, the next he's introducing himself to me, while paying no attention to what I say. _

"...is every ship like this?" Kira realized that Jack was talking about something again and shook his head to clear his mind.

"What did you say? I didn't hear you."

Jack rolled his eyes. "I said that this ship is amazing! I haven't seen anything like this back on Utopia."

"Back where?"

"Utopia. Planet Utopia … Oh yes, that's right, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" Jack sighed when he saw the confusion in Kira's eyes. "Okay, let me think a little." He said and sat down on the floor leaning against the wall as he gathered his thoughts. Kira, sensing a story, mirrored his movement on the opposite side of the hallway.

"I never was much into history, but I can give you the short version. Planet Utopia is, or was, a planet that was colonized a long time ago."

"Why do they call it Utopia?"

"I don't know exactly, but I think it had something to do with some kind of a big-ass project, that was supposed to create a paradise where everyone could live peacefully, happily and all that crap. From what I've heard they even managed to achieve that for a couple of years, but by the time I was born it had become a fucking shithole. And that was even before the Great Destruction."

"How come? What happened?"

"Well, there was this fucking computer, the Controller, which was supposed to fix everything and generally look after things. At least until someone fucked it up, then everything went to shit. Corruption, drugs, violence, conflicts, small wars - the full boat. One good thing, it was the golden age for Ravens. That's how everyone calls a certain group of mercenaries." Jack explained with a cocky grin, which made Kira suspect that Jack was probably one of these Ravens. "Anyway, few years later, when everyone thought that things couldn't be worse, the Great Destruction came ... A fucking nuclear war! Man that was cool! The whole planet became nothing more than a radioactive rock." He let out a short laugh as if recalling something exciting, though Kira saw nothing funny.

"The entire planet was destroyed? Why? What was the war about?" In response Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"Who cares? What happened AFTER the Great Destruction was the real hell. Too much people and not enough resources was the biggest problem. The second problem was that with Utopia pretty much destroyed there was no way for us to rebuild and start again. The corporations, the one's in charge now, even began working together to find a way out. Eventually they told us that they had found a way to return to Earth. However, there were some problems. They couldn't fit everyone on Circ-City. Some of us thought that they were just fucking with us, but at that time no one had the strength to protest. Anyway, they rebuilt the colony ship, which was used to colonize Utopia, and turned it into a giant warehouse where resources and other important shit were stockpiled. After all, no one wanted to leave with empty hands. Later, when all the important people were on Circ-City, we left. We used some kind of a gate or something like that. No one knew what it really was, but the important thing was; we were alive, away from that hellhole and ready to begin our journey to Earth. How exactly, the Corporations didn't tell us, but no one really cared. Everyone was just glad to..."

"Wait a minute." Kira held up his hands, so that he could get a moment to comprehend everything. "What happened to those left behind? Those who couldn't get aboard Circ-City?"

"Who cares about those losers? They're gone, probably dead. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that... oh, wait." Jack broke off in mid sentence when a short buzz emanated from his coat. He reached inside and pulled out his PDA. "Hmm, it looks like I've gotta go. Got some things to do." He jumped to his feet and placed the small object back inside his coat. "Well bye, Kira Yamato. Maybe we'll meet again sometime and then it'll be your turn to tell me something."

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Kira replied as Jack walked away towards the exit. He watched him disappear around a nearby corner and smirked when he realized that he could still hear the metallic knocks from Jack's boots. He slowly stood up and rubbed his back when he realized that it was hurting like hell. Jack's story had fascinated him so much that he hadn't noticed it. He stretched his back and was glad to notice the pain decrease a bit. _Heh, strange guy. Sure makes a poor first impression, but he's not so bad. I hope he manages to get off the ship before someone sees him. _Kira made one more look at the corner Jack had disappeared behind and turned around to head back to the mess hall. Maybe someone was there by now. He had a lot of interesting things to tell.

xxxxx

Viktor had always understood the importance of information. Knowing everything about your enemies and friends meant that you were always a step ahead. Information allowed him to strike at his opponent's weak spot, while avoiding or neutralizing his strengths. One of the reasons he worked for Blue Cosmos was the amount of information he could access After all information was one of the most important, if not THE most important aspect of modern warfare. The chance of learning more about Circ-City and project Utopia was another reason why he looked forward to this meeting. However, not everything went his way.

_How could I overlook something like this! _He thought grimly and let around a rather desperate and weary look. No matter what day and age, diplomats had retained one of their most detestable habits. They could talk seemingly forever without actually saying anything. The meeting had been going on for more than an hour, but either party had yet to bring up anything of importance. Even the greetings and introductions, both being not longer than five minute activities, at least in his opinion, were dragged out to the point of absurdity. He reminded himself to remember to talk about this with his boss. Maybe Mister Azrael could pull some strings and let Viktor do the talking. Then he would make sure that the meetings were short and to the point. However, he had to be careful. Under no circumstances they could let ZAFT think that the Alliance knew more about Circ-City, even if they already suspected them. In politics nothing mattered unless you had hard evidence to back up your claims.

He leaned back in his chair and looked around the room and the people inside for what seemed to be a hundredth time. The room was very large once you took into account the fact that they were on a space station, where large rooms were considered luxury. It could easily hold at least hundred people and even then it wouldn't be crowded. Right now, with little more than thirty people, it looked almost empty. The main furniture in the room was a huge, oval desk, which seemed to be made for fifty people, since there were fifty consoles built into the surface. The remaining chairs, obviously reserved for less important members of the meeting were packed in the corners.

Viktor himself was apparently important enough to be granted a seat at the big desk, along with Mr. Timothy Dyle and his closest advisors. Currently Timothy was busy saying something about a schedule for future meetings, since it was clear that more than one meeting will be necessary. Today was only the "Hello and who are you?" meeting. One of many. _If the remaining meetings will be like this I'll need more than one bottle in order to keep my sanity. _Viktor sighed and looked over his shoulder, where the rest of the Alliance's delegation was sitting. He wasn't surprised when he noticed that even the low-level aides looked like they were participating in something extremely exciting, something mere mortals couldn't even begin to understand.

The only one who wasn't paying any attention to the conversation was Domenic. Instead of admiring the big players with mouth open in awe, the man was staring at the PLANT delegation with more than a simple dislike in his eyes. Viktor trailed his look and realized that Domenic was staring at someone well known among the Earth Alliance military leaders – Rau Le Creuset. The man was famous for his achievements on the battlefield especially during the battle of Yggdrasil. _Order of the Nebula for thirty seven Mobile Armors and six warships. _Viktor made a mental sigh, glad that he didn't have to face the masked Commander in battle. Especially since he was a field officer back then.

Once he was done observing the Coordinators, Viktor locked his gaze on the people on on the other side of the table. There were only three of them sitting at the table, although Viktor could see at least dozen or so, sitting in the relative darkness behind them. The odd thing about these three was that they were sitting with plenty of empty chairs in between them, as if they represented three factions instead of one. For most people it seemed a little bit strange, but for Viktor, and few others, who possessed more knowledge about Circ-City and its occupants, it wasn't something to be concerned about, because these men indeed represented their own factions, or rather – corporations.

The one on the right, sitting directly opposite the EA delegation was Garon Kelly, CEO of Crest Industries. A huge, well tanned man with white hair cut short in a military fashion. His dark blue eyes were firmly fixed on a point in front of him, while his head rested on the bridge of his hands, suggesting that the man was extremely bored with the meeting so far. In fact he hadn't spoken a single word ever since he had said his name. Out of all three Garon Kelly was the only one, who had a military aura of sorts. For Viktor it meant that this man was more or less a pragmatist and preferred a straight to the point approach. _That's good, he will be easy to work with_. Viktor filed that information away and turned his attention at the next person.

The next man was Yoshirou Kisaragi, leader of Kisaragi corporation. Unlike Garon Kelly, this man of Asian descent was a complete opposite in most aspects. Long, straight, pitch black hair fell past his shoulders. And while Yoshirou was slightly shorter and thinner than his competitor from Crest Industries, he left little doubt about his position. One could clearly feel the authority and wisdom coming from this man. For Viktor he reminded of a mighty shogun from feudal Japan. However, along with the authority Viktor also sensed a great deal of arrogance whenever Yoshirou's dark brown eyes traveled across the two guest parties.

Finally there was Leon Degalo who, according to information in Viktor's possession, was in charge of Mirage. So far Leon was the only one who was at least partially interested in talking with them. Unlike Garon and Yoshirou, who only spoke when they had to. Leon was not only the most talkative of the trio, but also seemed to be much friendlier, something which was accentuated by the small smile that never left his lips. When it came to appearance he was somewhat average. Average height, average build, plain, brown hair and grey eyes. There was nothing distinct about him, only that he seemed to be the youngest of the trio, possibly in his late twenties.

If he'd missed Timothy's words, Viktor would have continued his observation, but the fact was that he heard them. "Okay, just to be perfectly sure I suggest that we re-confirm the schedule one more time."

_Enough is enough! I've had it with this bullshit!_ An unexpected wave of anger and frustration forced the old man to make a decision. No matter how hard he thought about it later, he couldn't recall what exactly made him intervene. Maybe it was his mind rallying his usually suppressed emotions in order to preserve its sanity. Or maybe it was something else that made him lean forward and cough, both to clear his throat and let everyone know that he had something to say. "I'm not one to usually disrupt vital meetings, but like most of us here I have my responsibilities. One of which is to regularly inform my superiors about the situation here. And while I'm grateful that we were able to put together this meeting, I have yet to heard anything of importance. So how about you answer some of our questions?" Everyone in the room was now looking at him. Timothy Dyle almost made to protest, but decided otherwise when he recalled the brief warning he had received on Archangel. The delegation from PLANT's looked relieved and surprised at the same time. The same mixture of expressions stared at him from the opposite side of the desk, but it was clear that everyone was actively listening. "If there are no objections I would like to ask you this. First of all, your reason for being here, second you mentioned project Utopia at the start of this meeting, so I would like you to tell us more about it." He allowed a tone of authority and influence to tint his voice so that everyone knew that he was being serious.

"You expect us to answer your questions just like that?" Yoshirou's voice rumbled across the room. "Information, like everything else has a price, I'm certain that you're well aware of that, mister..."

"My name is not important. What is important is that there are approximately one hundred ships stationed outside Circ-City, all crewed by men with itchy trigger fingers. And those are just our ships, since I don't know how many ships they brought." Viktor jerked his head in PLANT delegation's direction without breaking his eye contact with Yoshirou. The leader of Kisaragi tried to stare him down, but to no avail, Viktor didn't back down.

"And why should we be concerned about that?" Yoshirou let out a derisive snort. "You have no idea what we are capable of."

"It goes both ways. You have no idea what WE are capable of." Viktor said with a short, cold smile as he stared back at the arrogant bastard. However, before any more threats could be made, Leon Degalo let out a short laugh.

"Now, please, we didn't come here to threaten each other, so let's not waste the opportunity to establish advantageous connections." He paused for a moment, waiting for both men to calm down. Yoshirou muttered a curse no one could hear, but quickly regained his estimable posture, looking everywhere except at the EA delegation. Viktor simply turned his gaze towards Leon and waited.

Leon threw a quick glance at Yoshirou before continuing. "Okay. As we already told you, we have arrived from planet Utopia, located in Alpha Centauri system. The planet was chosen as an ideal location for carrying out project Utopia, since it was similar to Earth and was capable of sustaining life … By the way, bear in mind that the information we have comes from old, incomplete records and we don't know if its one hundred percent true ... Project Utopia was launched approximately one hundred eighty years ago on Earth, when several theorists predicted that the humanity will destroy itself in the near future. We all know that statements like that have been around for centuries, but this time there were people who decided to act. A massive black project, later named project Utopia, was launched. The project involved some of the greatest minds of that time and they were able to come up with a solution for the distance problem – a revolutionary FTL drive. When the ship was ready, it was loaded with resources, best technology available and genetic material from the ... best and brightest individuals." He smiled at the last words, but his face soon became serious. "The genetic material was needed because they believed that in order for humanity to have a chance we had to start from the beginning, which meant that no one was allowed to travel to Utopia. The entire ship was fully automated and was supervised by an AI known as The Controller. The ship's drive was rigged to self-destruct once it arrived at the destination and there was no information about the FTL travel technology in The Controller's database. After the arrival The Controller used the resources and technology to create Layered - the first city. About twenty years later, the next phase of the project began. The Controller set out to create the first generation of inhabitants."

"In order to avoid suffering the same fate as Earth, The Controller made sure that humanity had no reasons to resort to violence by maintaining all aspects of our lives. We led uninspired lives of promised prosperity." Yoshirou picked up the story, still trying to avoid looking at Viktor. "Although were were constantly controlled and with almost no freedom, we were happy since conflicts were almost non-existent and humanity truly lived in Utopia. This golden age lasted for more than a century, during which we achieved scientific breakthroughs previously deemed impossible. However, it soon came to an end. It was thirty years ago when strange things started to happen. Ever increasing cases of violence among the population were reported, it was soon followed by emergence of various groups or gangs, which of course sparked numerous small conflicts. Our corporations were established to maintain order and find out the cause of these incidents. Eventually it was assumed that The Controller was malfunctioning and couldn't maintain control over the population, despite our efforts to relieve The Controller's workload. However, there was a problem with this theory. The Controller had experienced malfunctions before, but it had always recovered and been able to continue its tasks. At first we believed that The Controller would repair itself and restore order, but it turned out that we were wrong."

"Seven years ago The Controller decided to terminate the project and start over." Garon continued in a low voice. "That thing expected that we would offer little resistance and would be no match for its forces, but it turned out to be the greatest miscalculation that thing had ever made. During those twenty three years of chaos and little to no contact with The Controller, we had began developing weapons. Amazing weapons. You can create all kinds of wonders with a century of unrestricted scientific achievements behind you. In the end it turned into a full scale nuclear war, which led to the destruction of The Controller. After the war was over, our corporations rallied the survivors and relocated them to Circ-City. However, despite our efforts, there was no way to rebuild our lives and for some time it seemed that we were destined to die on this station. The hope came when we discovered an unknown object near the planet six months ago. After brief examination our scientists came to a conclusion that the object was a gateway, capable of transporting an object to another system. They also suspected that the gateway was built by The Controller during the latter years of the war. We had no idea why it was built or where it led, but one thing was certain, humanity had no future on Utopia. Therefore it was decided to gather all of the remaining resources and survivors and travel trough the gateway. Finally, about two weeks ago we arrived not far from Earth. I guess that roughly explains what happened to us." Garon concluded. His last words echoed across the room and eventually died down as silence took hold of the room. Almost everyone from PLANT and EA delegations was speechless as they tried to comprehend what they had just heard.

No one had said a single word by the time Leon remembered the first question. "As for our intentions, I guess you all probably have a good guess about them. Despite what some of us say, we are in no condition and neither do we want to cause any problems. Especially since our main generators stopped working for unknown reasons a few days ago." He ignored the glares Yoshirou and Garon were giving him, when he mentioned the power supply problems Circ-City was experiencing. "I'm not afraid to ask for help, after all, our resources are limited and you definitely have the advantage of home ground. Besides, I'm certain that we can work out a deal or something like that." Leon looked at both delegations almost pleadingly while Yoshirou was practically fuming from anger and Garon had returned to his emotionless state.

"Well … um, yes … I'm sure that we can come to an agreement." Timothy Dyle was the first to regain his voice. He was making quick notes at the same time, trying to put down the most important parts of the story he'd just heard. "But may I suggest, that we should go over our scheduled meeting list one more time."

xxxxx

"Well, well. This meeting definitely was interesting. I had no idea that something like that was going on. Makes you wonder what else our ancestors have done?" Rau mused, waiting for the elevator doors to close so that he could return to Socrates. "Although that story still left a lot of questions unanswered."

"Yes, I agree." Lee ruffled his hair once again. "They did answer our questions, but somehow I get the feeling that they're not telling us everything." He added in a thoughtful voice. The elevator doors closed and both men began their travel downwards to the docking level. Everyone had agreed to take a short brake, but Rau and Lee had had enough for one day. Therefore they had decided to return to the ship and get some rest. "Everything sounds so simple that it's almost suspicious."

Rau glanced at his partner. "Maybe they're being honest. After all that man did say that their information comes from old records and might be unreliable."

"Yes, if we're talking about the early phase of the project, but not the war. For crying out loud, they witnessed that war for themselves! There is no way, that I'll believe that they have no idea what caused that war in the first place." Lee paused for a moment when he recalled the sudden event during the meeting. "But there is something else that bothers me."

"That man in the Alliance delegation?" Rau shared the same thoughts. "Do you know anything about him?"

"No. And that brings up a lot of questions to which I have only few answers. First, we know something about almost every high-ranking officer in the Alliance military and if he is influential enough to be one of the leaders of this delegation ZAMI should have at a file on him somewhere, but we don't. Second, if he's new, we would have noticed someone being promoted into such a responsible position and would have obtained some info about him. Finally, there is only one military branch we have almost no information about."

"Military intelligence. So, you're saying that he is an intelligence officer?"

"Precisely. There's more. Can you think of a reason why an intelligence officer should be put in charge of a diplomatic mission?"

"Because he has a great deal of information regarding that mission." It didn't take long to put two and two together. "That means he's the one who informed the President of the Atlantic Federation about Circ-City." Rau could barely hold back his smile. It was a wonderful feeling when everything fell in its place. All they had to do was to wait until the informant revealed himself. _Sometimes it's so easy it scares me. Now, all we have to do is to find out who exactly our friend is and where he got his information from. _"Now that we know what he looks like, I don't think there will be problems finding out who he is and where he's getting his information from." Lee nodded assent. He was already trying to come up with a plan that would help solve this little problem, but he didn't say a word to Rau. After all they still had their rivalry to maintain.

"That's strange. I thought the docking level was further down." Rau said when both men felt the elevator slowing down and eventually coming to a halt.

"Maybe someone else needs to use the elevator." Lee guessed nervously. Why would someone be wanting to use an elevator reserved for PLANT delegation members only? He took a step back, deeper into the elevator and further away from the doors. Rau, however, remained where he stood and observed the doors with genuine curiosity. They didn't have to wait for long. The doors slid open and Lee let out a startled gasp.

There were three people standing outside. All clad in something between a suit of armor and a pilot's jumpsuit. Their faces were hidden behind polarized visors that helped conceal their identities. Fortunately they seemed to carry no weapons, at least until Lee noticed the handgun holsters on their hips. For a moment they just stood and looked at the two people inside the elevator as if judging them. After what felt like an eternity the one in front, apparently the one in charge spoke. "Do not worry. We just want to talk." Lee felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine. The voice was almost like a lifeless whisper … voiceless, for a lack of a better term. Though he was quick to realize that it was probably achieved by some sort of a device to further increase the secrecy. Lee had no idea whether the person he'd just heard talking was a man or a woman. The suit also did a good job of hiding the clues about its wearer's gender.

The elevator doors pinged and began to close, only to be stopped when the person pushed them open again and entered the elevator. His or her companions also stepped inside. "We just want to talk." The man repeated, at least Lee though he was a man, since he couldn't imagine a woman being so persistent.

"Well, I'm not exactly spoiled for choice, so I'm listening." Rau replied calmly. He showed no signs of being bothered or surprised about the sudden guest's appearance. _Must be the mask thing. _Lee managed a quick thought.

"The corporations are not telling you everything. They are lying and telling the truth at the same time. I recommend that you be careful with them."

"And I presume that you will tell me the truth, but then again, how can I be sure that you're not the one lying?" Rau shot back. The person tilted his head and seemed to be considering his answer. Meanwhile, the elevator closed again and began moving again.

"Yes, how can you …" The person laughed. "But I'm not here to talk about the corporations and their stories. The truth is meant for you to find ... I have come today as a representative of a unusual organization, or rather, a faction. One that offers certain services … for a price."

"What kind of services would those be?"

The person stared for longer than seemed necessary before answering. "Tell me, have you ever heard something about Ravens?"

xxxxx

"Hey, Tony, you can't smoke in here!" One of the ZAFT guards who had been ordered to guard the entry to the Socrates said, when his comrade flopped down on a nearby crate and lit a cigarette. The second guard just waved it off.

"Calm down Jason. Do you even see a "No Smoking" sign here?" Jason looked around and was forced to admit that there weren't any signs prohibiting his friend's unhealthy habit. "Still, I don't thinks it's a good idea." He felt as if they were being watched. The poorly lit hall whose lights only served to illuminate a narrow path towards the elevators, leaving the rest of the area in darkness, only increased his worries.

"Oh, shut the fuck up! All you do is worry about every little thing." Tony blew a could of smoke in Jason's direction. "If someone has a problem with me smoking here, then they're welcome to come and make me stop." Then, as if Tony's words contained an incredibly powerful magic, they heard a hatch opening and then closing somewhere nearby.

"What the fuck was that!?" Jason frantically searched for the source of the sound, but he couldn't see a darn thing, at least until he spotted a tiny light some distance away. He also picked up a faint sound of metallic clinks that were getting closer and closer. "Hey, do you see that?" He whispered to Tony and slowly pulled out his gun. Technically they were supposed to avoid any confrontations, but neither one of them felt like taking chances. Especially after spending several hours in this creepy place.

Tony followed his partner's example and drew his sidearm as well. "Who's there!" He called out in the darkness, but no answer came. The light was about ten meters away and they realized that the metallic sound was made by footsteps. "Answer or we will shoot."

"I am here! Don't shoot!" A startled voice answered him. "Is that a good enough answer?" Both soldiers saw a boy stepping out of the darkness, carrying a small flashlight. "I just have to take care of some things."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Calm down. I already told you, there are a couple of things I have to do." Jack replied and turned off the flashlight. He began reaching inside his coat to put it away, but stopped when both men aimed their guns at his face. "Whoa, don't shoot! Don't shoot! I just want to put this thing away ... okay? ... There. You see, no need to get jumpy. Now, could you please let me pass?" Jack straightened his coat and proceeded towards the hatch leading to the Socrates. He had to stop when Tony stepped in his way, gun still aimed at Jack.

"And where are you going, huh? That place is currently off-limits for you." Jack tried to walk around him, but Tony grabbed the shorter boy by the shoulder. "Hey, are you deaf? I said there is nothing for you on that ship." Jack looked at the hand on his shoulder, at the gun and finally his eyes settled on Tony's face.

"Can't we all be friendly and nice to each other? I mean Circ-City will probably be your friends anyway, so why can't you let me go and have a look around your ship?"

"Because we were told to make sure that no unauthorized people enter the ship." Jason explained and moved to cover the path between Jack and the hatch. "Now, leave, before you get in trouble." Jack stared at them and then seemed to relax and for a moment both ZAFT guards thought that the boy would leave, but it all changed in a flash.

The sound of the elevator doors opening was like a starting signal for Jack. With a sudden, almost lightning quick move, he smacked Tony's hand off his shoulder and bolted towards Jason, towards the hatch. Jason's first thought was to issue a warning, but his training took over and he settled for a more permanent solution. He aimed at the boy's leg and fired, only to realize that he had missed. Jack had jumped aside scant milliseconds before Jason had pulled the trigger, by the time Jason had recovered from the surprise of missing a target only four meters away, Jack was already next to him. The road looked clear, but then Tony caught up with him and put a stop on his plan. The intervention tool the form of a strong kick to Jack's legs, which caused him to trip and land face-first onto the hard floor. However, he didn't remain there for long. Angry because of the humiliation he rolled on his back and quickly got up, this time looking for blood. Before Jack managed to attack or either of ZAFT guards to put the boy down for good, an armored figure passed them so quickly they barely noticed it. Jack, however did notice it, in more than one way, especially when the figure tackled him to the ground.

"What is going on here?" Rau's calm, but authoritative voice startled both guards, who were busy observing the struggle on the ground. Tony and Jason turned around and saw Rau Le Creuset and Lee Dexus, accompanied by a pair of two figures, also sporting the same outfit as the third one.

"Well, we ..." Jason began, but stopped when a girl's shriek from behind interrupted him.

Jack had managed to get on top of his opponent and was currently straddling her. His left hand was holding the girl's wrists and pinned them to the ground above the girl's head, while the right hand held a long knife, already rised for the killing blow. Fortunately the girl was saved, when one of her companions grabbed Jack's wrist and wrapped his other arm around Jack's neck, holding him in a chokehold. Jack tried to struggle, but he didn't have the leverage and was inexorably pulled off his victim. The whole fight ended when the girl's legs were free and she used one of them to kick Jack squarely in the face, knocking him out cold.

"What the hell! I told you to guard the hatch and not make any trouble!" Lee masked his nervousness by yelling at the guards. He felt slightly unsettled by the girl's shriek. Apparently the device, which disguised the voices of these ... Ravens, only worked to a certain degree. He spared a quick glance at the unconscious boy and then looked back at their mysterious informant who simply shrugged as if something like this was completely usual.

"Don't worry sir. This incident doesn't affect anything on our part. Although I must apologize, even though this area is supposed to be off-limits, Jack has always shown a certain negligence towards rules." He looked at the unconscious troublemaker as well. "Get that bastard away from here!" He ordered both Ravens, who began dragging the limp body towards the elevators.

"I see." Lee made his usual gesture involving his hair. "I see, well, if no harm is done, then I guess everything is fine. As for your offer, we will have to think about it, before making any decisions."

"Do as you like. After all we're not going anywhere." The Raven replied and managed what sounded like a short chuckle. "As for now, I must go and take care of our sleeping friend."

Rau waited until the man was out of earshot. "Mercenaries ... they might prove useful in solving some problems we've been experiencing lately."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, Lee. Just talking to myself." Rau smiled one of his enigmatic smiles and walked towards the hatch.

* * *

**A/N - **There. The main AC universe introduction chapter is done. Sorry about the long dialogues, but there was nothing else I could do. I'm sure that some of you recognize that I used the same "ancient colony project" way of converging both universes in Another War story. Honestly, I tried to come up with another reason, but this was the only method I could think of.

Also, I would like you all to meet Jack Terossa. I'll be a little spoilerish and reveal that this guy will be one of the main OCs, so please get used to him.


	13. Decisions, decisions

"That damned bitch! Why the fuck did she kicked me?" Jack muttered while holding his jaw, fearing that it might fall off any moment. He felt a large clot in his mouth that had a coppery taste to it. Unlike the previous ones this one felt a lot harder and bigger and was accompanied by a very painful feeling in the left side of his mouth. Slightly leaning sideways, he let it expand the small crimson puddle on the floor. "What the hell?" A small object was lying in red liquid, upon closer inspection Jack realized that it was a tooth. His tooth. So that's where the pain was coming from. That girl had managed to kick out one of his teeth. He knelt down and picked it up. The tooth was perfect. As in perfectly knocked out. It wasn't chipped, cracked or damaged in any other way. It was simply outside. "Damn that bitch. I'll get her for this!" Jack promised to himself and slid his tooth inside his pocket. It was too early to throw it away, maybe something could be done about it. He glanced at the small screen nearby. He still had some time to wait until the elevator would reach the station's medical section.

Jack had decided on this course of action shortly after he regained consciousness several minutes later and few levels above the place where he blank spot in his memory was obtained. Although he couldn't recall what happened after he got knocked out, he had a good theory about what had followed. Those two had worked him over pretty good afterward. Jack still had to wince every time he mad a quick movement, due to the waves of sharp pain streaming across his ribcage from at least four spots on his chest and sides. Throw in an increased effort of drawing new breaths and it was clear that he had been kicked several times while unconscious. "It was probably that bitch. If only that bastard hadn't intervened I would have finished her off easily." He was talking to himself as a way of drawing his thoughts away from his injuries. It seemed to work, since he found himself thinking more and more about the short struggle. If only he had been quicker with his knife.

_The knife!_ A new thought presented itself. By the time he'd finished the thought his hand was already feeling his right thigh. As expected the familiar, hard shape was gone. "Fuck!" Jack cursed and pulled away his coat to take a look. "Fuck!" He cursed again, when the only thing he saw was the empty holster strapped to his leg. The knife was probably lying somewhere on the docking level. With an irritated sigh Jack released his coat and punched the nearby wall. It wasn't that the knife was unique or was in some way special him. He just felt defenseless without it. Or rather less armed, since he still had a few more weapons. There was another shiv hidden in his right sleeve, he'd lost the first one when he had to deal with those thugs. Also, although forbidden on Circ-City, he had a gun strapped to his lower back. Its position was slightly hard to reach both quickly and stealthily, despite this it was a very good place to keep it since it was difficult to spot. The reason why he hadn't used it yet was that the corporations had promised to punish all lawbreakers so severely that even Jack realized that it would be better if he pretended as if he didn't have it.

Many would find it unusual for someone his age to be carrying so many weapons all the time, then again, for those who had spent some time on Utopia it wasn't something to be surprised about. On the contrary, carrying some kind of weapon with you was considered a sign that you cared for your safety. It was a necessity he had realized early in life. After all, it was just like he had told Kira. From prewar to postwar Utopia, it was no place for the weak. They either died very soon or learned how to become strong and survive. And once learned, these habits didn't vanish so easily, which was why Jack was already considering how to replenish his arsenal.

But those thoughts would have to wait for now. He was approaching his destination. The service elevator was already slowing down. Spitting out another clot of blood he left the elevator as soon as the doors opened. Unlike most of the station, the medical section was brightly lit and fully working. It made sense, since it was one of the primary and most important parts of Circ-City and therefore received full power supply even during emergencies or otherwise crappy situations.

Blinking his eyes in the unexpectedly bright light, Jack made his way down the corridors. Few nurses and doctors he met offered him to treat his injuries, when they saw how he moved and his bloody mouth, but Jack didn't stop for them. Even their offers were genuine and selfless, they were turned down. While Jack knew and understood that they were just trying to help, he couldn't bring himself to trust them enough to let them near his mouth or any other sore spot. Besides, why ask for help from someone you didn't know, when there was someone familiar to help?

He kept wondering around the near empty hallways until he found what the office he was looking for. Without bothering to knock Jack flung the door open and entered a room which appeared to be something between a research lab and medical treatment facility. There were few bookcases and large, advanced looking data storage banks arrayed along the walls. Several tables, all laden with various equipment and computers, were clustered in the middle of the room. There were also several books lying on the ground or piled up in wobbly stacks that threatened to collapse whenever someone walked nearby. The only table which wasn't fully occupied by books or other instruments was being used by the room's only occupant besides Jack.

"Hey, sis, I have some things you could take care of." Jack said when he finally noticed her. The white smock she was wearing worked as a type of camouflage in a room where almost everything was either white or off-white. The woman didn't answer, clearly she hadn't noticed him yet, as she was busy staring at the monitor in front of her. With a heavy sigh Jack closed the doors and carefully maneuvered between the piles or in some cases - mountains made from books. "Hey! Ashley! You hear me?" Still, no answer. Only when Jack stood behind her and lightly tugged Ashley by her brown ponytail did he receive some attention.

"Hey! What's going on?!" The young woman squealed loudly and snapped her head around. Once her dark brown eyes behind the rimless glasses spotted Jack, they narrowed in mixture of relief and indignation. "Jack! How many times have I told you not to scare me like that." She rubbed her head where the ponytail began. "And don't pull my hair! It hurts!"

"It's not my fault that there is no other way to reach you." Jack looked around, searching for a free chair. Seeing none, he settled himself with flopping down on one of the book piles which was roughly shaped like a chair and proved to be pretty comfortable.

"Jack! Get off my books!" The thin woman jumped up and went to pull him off from her precious books. However, in doing so she caused the stack to collapse and scatter its contents all over the nearby floor. "Jack, look at what you've done!" Ashley admonished and quickly gathered the reading material, so that she could rebuild one of the small towers again. When it was done she was angry to discover that Jack had used the opportunity to occupy her chair and now was watching her with clear amusement. "What the hell is wrong with you?! What do you want?" Every time Jack was around it meant trouble for her. Sometimes, or rather always, this guy was nothing more than a walking source of problems. Why couldn't he behave like the younger brothers of her friends? Why couldn't he just leave her alone and obey her? After all, she was in her late twenties, more than ten years older than this brown haired bastard sitting in her chair. Why did her mother had to adopt him? It was one question she had no answer to, other than her mother had made the biggest mistake in her life by bringing this boy into Ashley's life.

"Oh, now you're willing to talk to me." Jack pretended to be affronted and slowly spun the chair around. Only when he was facing his sister again did he spoke again. "I need a tissue … Or I will have to leave this on your floor." Jack opened his mouth to show Ashley a mixture of blood and saliva. "And I need you to take care of my wounds. Some bastards worked me over pretty good recently."

"You probably deserved it anyway." Ashley murmured as she brushed past him to get some tissues from the drawer, which she threw in Jack's lap. "Besides, you know very well that I'm not a doctor. I'm a scientist."

"Whatever."

"A well known and respected scientist in the fields of bioenginee..."

"Can you put this back in?" Jack interrupted her and dropped his tooth on her desk, while wiping off his mouth with the other hand. Ashley glared at him and glanced at the small premolar.

"No. You can give it to the tooth fairy."

"That bitch still owes me from the last time. Okay, I can live with a missing tooth, how about my other injuries then?" Ashley crossed her arms and quickly looked him over.

"You don't look hurt to me."

"But I am. I got kicked in the ribs several times and ..."

"Have any bones pierced you flesh?"

"No, but..."

"Do you have trouble breathing?"

"What? Well, a little and there's..."

"You're fine, now get out of my chair!" She instantly replied and looked at him expectantly. However, Jack didn't move. Instead he leaned back and looked hurt.

"That's it? You're leaving your dearest brother just like that? What if I have inside bleeding right now?"

"Internal bleeding." Ashley sighed. "If you had, then you wouldn't be sitting so comfortably and talking like that. You're fine, now, GET OUT!" She raised her voice and was satisfied to see Jack comply and leave her chair. "Now, why did you got beat up anyway? More of your smart ideas?"

Jack wiped his mouth again and noted that the tissue was only slightly pink. "None of your business." He crumpled the tissue into a ball and threw it against the furthest wall. "Anyway, what the hell are you doing here? ... I mean what are you working on if you can't even hear someone entering your office." He corrected when Ashley was about to point out that this was her office and there was nothing strange about her being in this room.

"I'm working on my latest project. A virus that will be able to regenerate damaged tissue and even organs at an accelerated rate." She sat down and returned her attention on the computer.

"You're still working on that? I thought you finished it a long time ago when you injected me with that shit."

"That was nothing. I was just testing its effects on humans." Ashley shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as if experimenting on members of your family wasn't something to be concerned about. Jack however, rolled his eyes incredulously.

"Testing?! No wonder that shit almost killed me?"

"Well, it did stop the bleeding didn't it?" Ashley pouted. "And you agreed to it in the first place."

"I agreed to let you help me, not be your guinea pig!" Jack pointed out angrily and quietly toppled over a book pile Ashley couldn't see.

"Details, details. You're here aren't you? Healthy and alive. Besides this one will be a lot safer and better."

"Yeah, right." Jack had to laugh at that. "As if anyone is going to need your stupid germs."

"Virus!"

"Whatever." Jack replied indifferently and even forced an uninterested look on his face. He knew that criticizing or not paying attention to her work was the best way to make Ashley mad. A small vengeance for using him as a test subject without him knowing. Ashley, jumped to her feet, hands balled into fists, her face and neck flushed as she glowered at him with burning anger in her eyes. To which Jack replied with a sheepish smirk.

"Mark my words, you ..." She faltered for a moment, unable to come up with a proper insult. "What I am doing here will change the world. It will bring hope to hundreds, no, thousands and thousands of people. Unlike you, who only causes problems for others." Still wearing a self-satisfied grin, Jack polished his nails against his coat and looked them over, completely unconcerned by Ashley's words.

"I wouldn't say that, my job often involves killing someone, therefore I will create new customers for you, so that you can earn a living by selling your germs ... I mean microbes."

"IT'S A VIRUS!" Ashley screamed and reached for the nearest book. Realizing the imminent danger, Jack quickly bolted for the door, not paying any attention to pain as he jumped over the books and knocked over one of the tables. He reached the exit at the same time with the book. He was lucky that Ashley had a lousy aim, because the book slammed with a resounding bang into the wall only a meter away. "AND STAY OUT YOU BASTARD!" Ashley yelled after him and collapsed into the chair, drawing deep and heavy breaths.

xxxxx

Two days. Two days had passed. Two days of long discussions and boring meetings. But finally they'd managed to achieve something. Something more than exchanging words. A true blessing from heavens. Viktor almost smiled, but at the last moment he managed to keep his poker face. After all, there was a good reason both to smile and to remain completely uninterpretable - Garon Kelly, was sitting across the desk in his quarters aboard the Aggressor, who had replaced the Archangel after Viktor informed them that everything was fine. The Archangel had spent little time in the vicinity of Circ-City. Pausing only to allow the Aggressor's shuttle to launch, the white ship had rendezvoused with the 8th Fleet and left.

The following days were the ones that really made him nervous. As PLANTs and EA told about themselves, Viktor couldn't help notice that the three leaders were quite interested in the concept of PLANT type space colonies. Perhaps they were viewing PLANTs as a solution to their problems. A solution that was unacceptable to Viktor and people he represented. His worries grew even bigger when PLANT representatives revealed bits and pieces about Coordinators and some of the leaders showed unhealthy interest in that regard. During that meeting, it finally dawned to him. What could the Alliance offer the corporations PLANTs couldn't? By large PLANTs had better technology, more efficient production capabilities, the genetic enhancement technology to name a few. What did the EA had? Outdated Mobile Armors, industry which was barely able to recover from the effects of N-jammers, and a terrorist group bent on destroying a more advanced civilization. Not exactly the best situation. Certainly not the best offer to the corporations. Their only trump card was the living space and raw resources, but if the Coordinators managed to restore Circ-City's power supply, they corporations will have all the space they need. Especially since there were barely more than three thousand survivors living on a station capable of housing at least twice that many. As for the resources. Add their technology to PLANTs' and the war would be over soon enough for them not to worry about resources, especially if PLANTs were the epitome of efficiency.

But apparently someone up there liked him, because after the yesterday's last meeting, one of Garon's subordinates had approached him and asked if he had some time to spare. After Viktor gave a positive reply he was lead a little bit aside and asked if he was interested in meeting the CEO of Crest Industries. Sensing a wonderful opportunity Viktor had no other choice, but to agree. After that it was only a matter of specifying the details of their private meeting. A small part of him doubted that Garon would actually come, but all doubts vanished when he was informed that Garon, along with four bodyguards, was waiting for him near the hatch to the Aggressor.

"Mister Kelly, I certainly am grateful for being able to discuss possible cooperation with you, but there is something that puzzles me." Viktor cast aside his train of gloomy thoughts and focused on the conversation.

"You're wondering why am I interested in working with your so-called Earth Alliance, am I right?" Garon was straight to the point, as usual. Viktor only gave a short, humorless smile and stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "Indeed. The offers made by PLANTs are no doubt very appealing to the other two corporations and even I find it hard to refuse. However, there are some factors that I can't ignore." Viktor strongly suspected that he knew what the other man was talking about. The distrust and hate between the corporations.

"I'm guessing that there are some … difficulties in working with other corporations?" Viktor leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "It's just a guess. Although it's not that hard to notice the antipathy between you during the meetings." He explained when Garon frowned, surprised by his accurate guess. Naturally, Viktor was lying. He knew about it well before stepping foot on Circ-City, but he was unwilling to give away his trump cards. Therefore he had to improvise.

"You're very astute … Yes, this is the reason why I am talking with you. I we accept help from PLANTs, there is a chance that some corporations will be on the same side. While Kisaragi and Mirage might be content with working together, I find it out of the question. Crest has its pride after all. Working together against The Controller was a necessity. Nothing more. Now that the crisis is over, I see no reason as to why shouldn't we pursue our own agenda."

"And what might that be?"

"What every corporation wants, dominance, power, influence, money. The list is long mister Nodokov, but the point is, sooner or later the competition will restart again. Either among ourselves or against any of your companies. And frankly, I think its wise to have one of us in your trenches. Especially if you don't want to experience your companies go bankrupt, just because they tried to beat us out of the market."

Now it was Viktor's turn to frown. Even though he had some idea about the technological level of all three corporations, he doubted that they'd be able to root out Blue Cosmos – the business giant of Earth Alliance's weapons industry. Blue Cosmos would win eventually, one way or another, but the question was, at what price? Especially during wartime. No, he couldn't take such risks. "You seem to be very sure about your corporation mister Kelly. However, I'm interested in what can Crest offer us?"

Garon smiled a self-assured smile. "For starters, tokamak fusion reactor technology. Even though there are some limitations with some versions, a fusion power plant will have few, if any, equals. Our achievements regarding metallurgy, polymers, neural impulse tracing, these are just some of the technologies, which are used by all corporations. Crest however, is unmatched when it comes to constructing structural parts for Muscle Tracers and the brand new Cored Muscle Tracers. And of course, our specialty – bioengineering. Cybernetics, bionics, various medicines. We were the ones who created the gene therapy, which has saved hundreds of lives."

"Gene therapy?" Viktor had a bad premonition. This whole war was caused by genes and if Utopians, as Viktor had started calling them, were just like the Coordinators, then he had little doubt that several people would feel the need to expand their target lists. Even if Utopians were willing to offer their aid and technologies to Naturals, they wouldn't be trusted and be thrown in the same grave with the Coordinators. "Could you tell me a little more about this gene therapy?"

"It is similar, but at the same time different from the genetic enhancement used to create Coordinators. The difference is that the gene therapy it applied shortly after the person is born. During this therapy, all mutated or defective genes are replaced with properly functional ones. This helps eliminate any hereditary diseases. Another difference is that the enhancements are relatively minor and physical in nature such as increased strength and stamina. The increase is about twenty to thirty percent when compared to a pure human."

"I see." Viktor made a note to talk about his with Muruta Azrael, when he met him the next time. Just because a person's genes were manipulated to eliminate any diseases didn't meant that the person was a Coordinator. Lots of Naturals, even members of the organization used this service and there was nothing wrong with that. As for the enhancements, since they were relatively minor Viktor was almost certain that his boss wouldn't have any problems. "What about Mirage and Kisaragi?" Garon arched his eyebrow when Viktor said that, but he soon returned back to his expressionless state.

"I don't know anything about specifics, but in a nutshell Mirage,which was also the largest of the corporations, mainly focuses its efforts on energetics and everything related to that. Kisaragi, which entered the market only a few years before the war, has earned a reputation of producing high quality electronics and other computer related fields. One thing. I don't think you'll be able to work out a deal with Yoshirou. There are two reasons for that. He is an arrogant man, and by talking to him like you did during the meeting you instantly thwarted all chances of any kind of cooperation." Garon allowed an appraising grin to settle on his lips. "The second reason, according to the information in my possession, Kisaragi is more interested in working with Coordinators."

"What about Mirage?"

"Leon hasn't made any choices yet. If he has, he's doing a good job of keeping them secret. My guess is that Mirage will wait to see how the situation develops before offering their cooperation." Garon was at a loss.

Viktor kneaded the bridge of his nose, gaining time to think. Only one corporation was willing to work with the EA. It wasn't what he wanted. He had hoped to recruit all three corporations for EA and use them not only to win the war, but to solve the energy problem as well. Instead, he got one. Kisaragi would probably join the PLANTs, while Mirage's plans were unclear. Well, one must play with the cards fate deals you. "Interesting … Unfortunately we can't offer to regularly supply you. During the war, our supply lines in space are endangered. Even if you would agree to move Circ-City to Moon, it would only increase the risk of it being damaged during battle. However, our offer is different. The Atlantic Federation is willing to let your people settle on Earth. We will provide all the necessary transports and shelter if you choose to accept our offer. Your corporation will also be free to resume its business as a company based in Atlantic Federation."

"Your offer certainly is different from the one I was expecting, but it's very … promising. I will have to think about it and discuss it with other members of the corporation." Garon stood up, ready to leave. "You will receive my answer in a few days, mister Nodokov … Don't worry I will find the exit on my own." He added when Viktor rose up to escort him back to the main hatch. He took a few steps before stopping and turning around, as if suddenly recalling something important. "Yes, there is one thing I should inform you about. A little more than a day ago, a shuttle was launched from one of the station's hangars. The transport shuttle was equipped with the best stealth equipment available, so I doubt that your forces noticed it. The estimated trajectory of the shuttle, informed us that it was heading towards the ZAFT fleet." His eyes closely studied Viktor for any display of emotions, but all they could see was a barely noticeable twitch in the corners of the mouth.

"A shuttle? No, we didn't detect any shuttle leaving the station. Should I be concerned?"

"I think yes. Shuttles like that are often used by Ravens during insertion in a hostile territory, or extraction. Since there hasn't been any evidence of a battle, I have to say that ZAFT has hired a Raven."

"A Raven, huh? What are they capable of?"

Garon smiled a wide smile and slowly shook his head in admiration. "It's impossible to describe. You have to see it for yourself."

"Okay, thank you for the warning. I'll notify the appropriate people and we'll try to find this Raven."

"I wish you luck, then." Garon approached him and extended his hand. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, mister Nodokov." Viktor shook the hand and nodded.

"Same for me. Now, if you will excuse me. I have to inform my boss about the possible cooperation." He waited until Garon was outside, where his bodyguards were waiting, before sitting down to prepare a report about the situation.

xxxxx

Murrue felt a strong sense of déjà vu as she stood in the hangar and observed the shuttle from Menelaus. However the situation wasn't completely identical. This time there were more people standing around her. The volunteers from Heliopolis were also asked to attend this arrival. So, in a way this time was completely different. Another difference was that this time she knew the person who would leave the shuttle and unlike before Murrue was eagerly looking forward to meeting this person. Admiral Lewis Halberton was not only her superior, but also the one responsible for this entire G-project. Without him and his influence, the Archangel and all five experimental Mobile Suits wouldn't be built in the first place.

However, one thought baffled her. Why Admiral Halberton waited for two days to finally come to visit them? Was there something wrong with him or was it something else? Murrue had no idea, why Lewis acted like this, but she couldn't bring herself to inquire about it just like that. The only real contact they had received from the 8th Fleet took place yesterday, regarding the resupplying of the Archangel. Once the procedure was done and over, only then did Admiral Halberton contact them and expressed his wish to come on board their ship and discuss several matters with them.

But now was not the time for such thoughts, since the shuttle's hatch opened and allowed exit for the officer Murrue was thinking about. The tall, man paused in the doorway and let around a concerned look, which soon turned genuinely glad about what he'd saw. "My I thought that everything was over when I heard that Heliopolis was destroyed." He managed a relieved smile and exited the shuttle completely, landing in front of the small group of Archangel's officers saluting him. "It's good to meet you people here." He once again let around a scrutinizing look, before retuning the salute.

"Thank you very much. It's been a long time, sir." Murrue replied with a smile of her own.

"When I received news that the advance party was destroyed, I was worried. And I didn't like it when they decided to make this ship the first one to approach Circ-City." Lewis confessed his concern about the safety of the ship and people aboard. "Is everyone okay?"

"I am Natarle Badgiruel." Natarle introduced herself, when Admiral's gaze swept over her. Few seconds later, Mu did the same.

"Mu La Flaga, from the 7th Mobile Fleet." A flicker of recognition reflected in Lewis's eyes when he heard Mu's voice.

"Ahh, the Hawk of Endymion, it is very fortunate to have you with them." He moved over to shake Mu's hand. "You have my gratitude for aiding this ship."

"No, I didn't really help that much." Mu tried for modesty, but Murrue easily noticed a self-satisfied grin on his face. Meanwhile Admiral' Halberton's eyes fell on the larger group standing some distance away from the officers.

"And what about those people over there?"

"Ah, those are students from Heliopolis. They survived the attack and volunteered to help us operate this ship." Murrue explained and followed him towards the group of much younger people. "Without them I doubt we would have made it this far." She added, just as they reached the students.

Lewis studied them just as he had done with the officers. His eyes briefly focused on Daniel when he recognized Christopher's son. He would have to find time to talk with him later. For now there were other things he had to talk about. "It has been confirmed that everyone's family has been rescued and they are safe and completely unharmed. " He announced and smiled when he saw the relief and joy in their faces. It somehow warmed his heart. Things like that were rare during war, and they needed every bit of happiness. "I've heard that you've worked hard during this situations, so you have my thanks as well … I'd like to talk to you people again later, but there are some problems we have to solve." He continued when his aide quietly reminded him about the situation. He looked at the three officers and gestured them to follow him to the captain's quarters.

xxxxx

"... taking hostile action against the Earth Alliance's 11th Fleet or any other enemy vessel near Circ-City is strictly forbidden unless being fired upon first." Rau read his orders perhaps for the umpteenth time in the last hour. He quickly ran over the document one more time and smiled one of his trademark enigmatic smirks. "There is no reference regarding the 8th Fleet. Furthermore, now that they are away from the Circ-City, it means that there is nothing wrong in attacking them." He explained his idea to Captain Ades and let the piece of paper drift away. However, the other man was still doubtful.

"I understand, but even with Ziegler and Gamov backing us up, this plan is risky at best. We're facing a whole fleet. Even if they are using outdated Mobile Armors, the odds are at least seven to one." He said and realized that Rau had moved over to the tabletop map display.

"Don't forget Lusitano … It's strange ... They seem to be heading to Earth instead of the Moon HQ like we suspected. They're probably planning to drop the Archangel on Earth."

"Their drop-off point probably is Alaska." The Captain mused as he also took a chance to study the map. "If they do that, there's no way we'll be able to destroy them."

"Yes … We must shoot it down while it is in our backyard … What do you think about this?"

Fredrik leaned closer to get a better view of the enemy fleet's formation. "Ziegler has six GINNs, we have five units here, including Aegis and Buster and Blitz from the Gamov. And, if Lusitano arrives on time from that pickup, we will have one of those mercenaries." His mind briefly recalled the deal Rau had managed to work out on Circ-City. Truth be told, he couldn't hold back a great deal of doubts. Soldiers who fought for money never struck him as the most reliable people. However, he'd decided to hold his judgment for until he saw them in action. Right now he had a plan to prepare. "My plan would be sending our Mobile Suits to create a gap in the enemy formation and follow up with all ships and destroying our targets in one pass." He used the interactive pointer to outline his plan. "We're going to have only one shot at this, since they heavily outnumber us and even though we have the advantage of speed and surprise, as well as superior weaponry, sooner or later they will be able to destroy us. Especially if we slow down."

Rau slowly nodded as he listened to the plan. Even though ZAFT ships were more heavily armed, numbers still played an important role and the Alliance had all the numbers in the world. Both literary and figuratively. His sight centered on the fleet's flagship. "The Menelaus. Admiral Halberton, it's about time you retire."

xxxxx

"Because of this ship ,one G and that Pulverizer, Heliopolis and Artemis were destroyed." Captain Hoffman clarified after he and Admiral Halberton had heard the short version of Archangel's adventures. He wasn't criticizing Murrue, only stating a fact.

"But they at least managed to save this ship and both machines. Therefore it will end up as an advantage for the Earth Alliance sooner or later."

"Apparently Alaska doesn't think so and there is a lot we don't know about the Pulverizer, other than Blue Cosmos is eager to get their hands on it."

"What do they know about war in space?" Admiral Halberton retorted exasperatingly. "And Blue Cosmos doesn't have any right to claim military property … Lieutenant Ramius understands my intentions. There shouldn't be any problems." However, Captain Hoffman thought differently.

"What about this Coordinator kid, wouldn't that cause problems?" He picked up a document, containing information about Kira. "Alaska won't like the idea of a Coordinator using our secret weapon. Even if it's for our side." He tossed the paper back on the desk, where it landed in full view of everyone. His question was seemingly aimed both ad Lewis and Murrue, but it was Murrue who decided to answer, since it was more her fault than the Admiral's.

"Kira Yamato only wants to protect his friends. That was the only reason he piloted the Strike. We probably hadn't have made it this far without him. And piloting it wasn't easy for him, since he was forced to fight his own kind … He's an honest and kind boy and I have faith in him."

"Yes, but if we release him just like that..."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but I agree with Captain Hoffman." Natarle couldn't remain quiet anymore and stepped forward. As much as she respected Murrue and was aware that Kira was only a civilian, there was no way of ignoring his potential. Letting him leave would be a big mistake. "His abilities are something we can't ignore." She did, however, successfully ignore the gasps from Murrue and Mu standing next to her. "Besides, he saw the secrets of the G, we can't just let him leave like that."

"Heh, four units have already been captured by ZAFT." Admiral Halberton countered with a slight snort. "What secrets are there?"

"But, his abilities are valuable! I think that if it's possible we should make him part of our army."

"But, from what Lieutenant Ramius said, he doesn't want to join the army and it doesn't seem that he has any intention of doing it in the future."

"His parents are Naturals." Natarle decided for a more drastic approach. "They are currently down on Earth. If we take them into custody..."

"Stop this nonsense!" Lewis slammed his fist one the table and leaned forward. "What kind of a soldier will that make?"

"M-my apologies." Natarle realized that she had gone too far and fell back in line. Admiral Halberton continued to glare at her for a while.

"Forget what happened in the past. It doesn't matter anymore." His voice became weary and concerned. "The question is, what will happen now? The arrival of Circ-City has caused a severe commotion among the highest echelons of the Alliance's military. Everyone's thinking about which side the Circ-City will take. And from what I've learned it will be enough to affect the outcome of the war. So it is imperative that this ship reaches Alaska. If worst happens, we will need a weapon that will allow us to fight on equal terms with our enemies."

"Since the advance party was wiped out, we don't have any personnel to transfer to the Archangel." Captain Hoffman took over. "Therefore we will have to send you down with your current staff."

"But … we are..." Murrue was about to explain that if the volunteers left, there wouldn't be enough people to operate the ship even with its advanced control systems.

"We must get their development underway. ZAFT is a force we can't handle in our present state. Even without additional help we can barely hold them back. Those idiots in charge don't care about how many soldiers die each day. They just continue funding outdated weapons since they often own the companies that produce them." Halberton fumed. Sometimes this system was so stupid he seriously considered resigning, but he knew that it wouldn't change anything.

Earth Alliance had to change. It was too stuck up on its old ways, that it failed to notice that the times were changing. Just like humans had evolved, so had the weapons. EA was too stuck in its old concepts of warfare that it simply failed to realize that the Mobile Suit was the new milestone in weapons evolution. Just like the gunpowder, or automatic firearms, or tanks had changed the war, so were Mobile Suits carving new features in the face of war. And if they couldn't realize that or refused to change accordingly they had to be replaced. Replaced by people who were in the course of time.

"Understood." Murrue replied, after she realized that Lewis was speaking the truth. "I will pass on your thoughts to Alaska, sir."

"As the only surviving pilot of my unit, I can't refuse." Mu voiced his readiness to accompany the Archangel.

Halberton briefly observed them and then bowed slightly. "I'm counting on you."

xxxxx

"A Discharge Permission?"

"We were in the army?"

"Belonging to Archangel of the 8th Fleet?" The surprised voices sounded across the small sleeping quarters when Natarle and Captain Hoffman had arrived and distributed the currently discussed documents to the small group of volunteers. Tolle, Kuzzey, Miriallia and Sai confusedly stared at the documents, some soldiers would kill for.

"Where is Kira Yamato and Daniel Stokes?" Natarle ignored their questions. The group looked around, but it was clear to see that neither of these two boys were present. "Never mind. Pass these to them later." Natarle said and handed the documents to Tolle.

"Even if it's an emergency. It is a crime for a civilian to enact the role of a military personnel. To prevent any legal problems, we made it that you all were volunteers before the incident." Hoffman explained shortly. "Don't loose it. Without this permission you're part of the army. Now, any kind of information you've learned about during your service or aft..."

"Umm, excuse me." Flay's voice interrupted the officer's speech. Everyone looked to regard her and noticed that she had an unusually determined look in her eyes.

"You didn't fight did you?" Natarle misunderstood Flay's expression. "There's no need for you to undergo the same procedures as everyone else." But the girl shook her head in denial.

"No, it's not about that … I'm … I'm volunteering for the army." She announced, utterly shocking everyone in the room. Who would have expect to experience the somewhat spoiled daughter of the late Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs enlisting in the armed forces.

xxxxx

Meanwhile, Kira stood on the Strike's chest and stared at it face, as if studying a living, breathing person. His mind briefly flashed with recent memories, all of them included his Mobile Suit. With a slightly sour taste in his mouth, he recalled every battle had had participated in as Strike's pilot. From the battle in Heliopolis, when he disabled that GINN, up to the most recent fight with Blitz, Duel and Buster just before Archangel reached the 8th Fleet. Without it, he wouldn't be standing here. Without it, his friends would have probably be dead by now. In some ways he owned his and his friends' lives to this machine. And now he was about to give up that strength and go home. Even though he was glad that the fighting was finally over, he also felt reluctant to lose the power he'd possessed since Heliopolis. The thought surprised him. Why should he be feeling concerned with leaving behind a weapon that inevitably led to the war he didn't want any part with? Maybe he was getting addicted to power, the machine gave him. He'd heard stories that there were people who got addicted to war and strove to get into a battle no matter what, but he never considered him to be one of them. He didn't want to fight people, especially his friend. So why? Why was he feeling reluctant to leave Strike behind?

"Feeling reluctant to part with it when you're about to leave?" A voice came from behind and beneath him. Kira snapped his head around and noticed a tall man with brown eyes and blond hair, complete with a bushy mustache, standing on the catwalk near the Strike. "Kira Yamato, right? … I've read about you in the report." He continued when Kira didn't deny his identity. "As I read it, I was once again surprised by you Coordinators' abilities." He looked over the machine admiringly. "Even though they're designed to rival ZAFT's Mobile Suits, when controlled by people like you, it becomes an unimaginable super weapon."

"That's not..." Kira opened his mouth to tell the officer that he piloted the Strike only out of necessity, but he didn't get far when Lewis interrupted him.

"Your parents are Naturals right?"

"Yes."

"What dream they were embracing when they made you a Coordinator?" Admiral Halberton asked. Though the question wasn't exactly kind, Kira understood that it was more like a rhetorical question. "Regardless, I hope this war ends quickly."

"Sir." Another officer approached him. "Your presence is requested on Menelaus."

"My, my. I can't even have the time to have a decent chat with you guys." He sighed as he smiled at Kira. "You have my thanks for protecting the Strike and the Archangel until now. Take care of yourself and don't die until the good times come."

"Uh, what's going to happen to the Archangel, Lieutenant Ramius and others?" Kira asked the question that had surfaced in his mind the moment the man had turned to leave.

"Archangel is descending to Earth." Lewis stopped and replied. At the same time he noticed the Pulverizer in the back of the hangar, along a person he'd been looking forward to talk with. "They will be sent into battle again." A concerned look crossed Kira's face. "I know what you're worried about. Your abilities are definitely appealing to the army, but that doesn't mean we can't win without you."

"But isn't it said that if you have the power to do something, then you should do it?" Kira grew even more worried. Without him, it will be a lot harder for the Archangel to survive in battle. And he definitely had the strength to protect it. He simply didn't have any idea which path to take. Should he stay and follow his strengths or should he walk away from it?

"Only if you have the will to do it. Power without will is nothing and one without will cannot win anything." Lewis replied and left Kira to his own thoughts. Ignoring the protesting aide, who followed him like a dog on a leash, he made his way towards the second machine.

xxxxx

Daniel's mind was nowhere near concerned about thoughts that plagued Kira's. Wearing all of his worldly possessions, consisting of the blue jeans and two types of shirt combo, he stared at the Pulverizer as if expecting an answer from it. The laptop, he already considered his, since no one else had come forth to reclaim it, was safely tucked in his arm. Strangely, but his mind was in no way thinking about how to remain with the Pulverizer. He had an idea. The question was, was it worth it? Doing it meant that he would practically stop being a free man. Everything in his life would be decided by others. Everything. There was also a chance the would end up nowhere near the Pulverizer, but he quickly rejected the thought, he knew A LOT about this thing. There was no way that they would keep him away from it. The least they could do was to allow him help with researching it. Or so he hoped.

His will became weaker when he recalled the brief conversation, or rather – interrogation by Domenic Moore. Whoever that man was, he knew a lot more about the Pulverizer than Daniel did. At least when it came to the Pulverizer's database. _But how does he know about that? The information in the Pulverizer is almost completely useless. So, how does he know about it? _He strained his brain, searching for an answer, any kind of answer. And then something came up. ..._make sure that this Pulverizer reaches Alaska in one piece. _Domenic's words echoed in his mind. _ ... this Pulverizer ... this ... _Was there more than one Pulverizer? Could there possibly be another machine like this? Daniel tried to figure out an answer for this, but his thoughts were scattered in every direction when he realized that he wasn't alone anymore.

A man, he identified as Lewis Halberton, was approaching him, with a very concerned looking man in tow. "Mister Halberton, I'm glad to see you." Daniel greeted his father old friend and even managed a smile. Lewis Halberton smiled in return as he stopped near him.

"Daniel, It's good to see you too. It's been a while hasn't it?" His smile disappeared as he shook the boy's hand. "I'm sorry about your parents. Your father was a very close friend to me."

"Yeah ... I know." A pained look crossed Daniel's face, but he tried no to think about it too much. "Thanks." He forced the thought aside and remembered his father's words. "Oh, yeah. My father wanted you to have this." He fished out the disk and handed it over. "Dad said, that it contains everything he and mom managed to find out about the Pulverizer. I also added some notes of my own, since I was able to access a lot more information when dad activated this machine." What he didn't tell was that the disk was actually a copy of the original. One that didn't contain everything the original held.

Lewis took the disk and cast a surprised look at him. "So it's true ... I couldn't believe my eyes when I heard that you were the one who piloted this ... Pulverizer?"

"That's what it said on the computer. And yes, I did use it to protect the ship." Daniel allowed a bit of pride in his voice. Admiral Halberton glanced at the disk and nodded.

"I see, this is a wonderful discovery you have made, Daniel. A machine, that lets you fight equally against Coordinators. This could mean a turning point in the war."

"I wouldn't say equally. Even I understand that some of the enemies didn't know what to expect from the Pulverizer." The pride in his voice disappeared like it had ever been there. "And in some cases it was pure luck." He glanced at the Pulverizer's leg. During these days, Murdoch had spent many hours repairing the damage caused by the Blitz. Eventually he had done it, but the Pulverizer wouldn't be the same anymore. The inside components had to be taken from the Strike's spare parts and they had no way of replacing the armor. Therefore, the mechanic had applied several plates of conventional armor. While it was a lot heavier and offered nowhere near the protection of the armor it had replaced, it was a lot better than going into battle with a hole in the leg.

"Nothing in this world is run purely by luck." Lewis was optimistic, or maybe he pitied him. Daniel couldn't tell. "Now, I have a question for you. Do you have any relatives to stay with?"

Daniel pondered for a moment. "A few, but I don't know much about them. I never did..." He realized that his future was being decided now. That made him shut up. It also brought the decision he'd been thinking about earlier. Ignoring, Lewis's confused look, he gave it one more thought. He knew he had to say it , but he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. It was like signing yourself away to unknown future, one he would probably regret later.

Later in his life, when Daniel's mind would return to this moment, he still would be unable to explain why he thought about Domenic in that moment. That brief conversation, filled with fear and humiliation. That short moment, which caused a great amount of hate and stubbornness, due to being looked down at by that man. Maybe these were the feelings that gave him the strength to speak those words, which would change his life forever.

"Sir, I … I want to volunteer for the army." He felt like he was signing a contract with the Devil himself. "I have nowhere else to go. My parents are dead. And all I want is to remain with this Pulverizer and finish my dad's work. I have already piloted it several times, so I know how it works and I know that as a civilian I won't be allowed to pilot it anymore. Therefore I'm willing to become a pilot for the Earth Alliance forces."

Admiral Halberton didn't say anything for a long time. He kept looking in Daniel's dark blue eyes, searching for any doubts or second thoughts. He didn't see any. This boy had made a decision and there was no way he could dissuade Daniel from his words. "Fine." His voice was quiet and serious. "I see that you have made your choice. I won't try to talk you out of it. I just hope that you won't regret it later." His attention turned towards the Pulverizer. "Like father, like son. You both seem to be enthralled with this machine … Don't worry Daniel, I'll make sure that you and this thing remain together. I'm sure people in Alaska can use your experience as its pilot … Just be careful, okay?"

"Yes, sir!" Daniel smiled hugely and made an awkward salute. To with Lewis replied with a smile and a salute of his own.

xxxxx

_Finally it's over. _Kira watched the long line of other survivors, all standing in line in order to get aboard the shuttle, that would take them to Menelaus. He looked around and took his place in the end. He had thought about it and decided that he had enough of this war. He would return to Orb with his friends and leave this war to those who wanted it. He looked behind him to see where his friends were since he didn't see anyone in the line before him. Strangely though, he couldn't notice a familiar face in the small crowd behind him. _Where are they? The shuttle is about to leave._

Someone, bumped into him and laughed in a childish voice. The voice came from below. Kira looked down and saw the girl he had accidentally knocked down several days ago. The girl righted herself and smiled at him. Then she began digging in the small bag, hanging from her shoulder and pulled out a origami flower. Just like the ones everyone made for their improvised Junius Seven memorial ceremony. "Than you for protecting us till now." The girl said and presented him the flower.

"Thank you." Kira kneeled down and accepted the small gift. The girl smiled again and rushed back towards her mother, who was waiting for her to return. Feeling glad for the small flower, Kira stood back up and made another look around. None of his friends were nearby.

After a few more minutes, during which Kira began to worry, he heard Tolle's voice at last. "Kira." Kira looked back and was glad to see Tolle, Miriallia, Kuzzey and Sai hurrying towards him.

"You're close. Everyone is almost gone." He pointed out, slightly puzzled by the fact that they were all still wearing their uniforms.

"Take this. It's a Discharge Permission." Tolle gave him a rolled up piece of paper. "You'll need it if you want to return home." Kira viewed them incredulously.

"We decided to stay." Sai explained. "On the Archangel, in the army."

"What do you mean "decided to stay"?"

"Flay volunteered for the army. After that we all decided to stay."

"Attention, Level 1 Battle Alert, all personnel, report to your battle stations!" The ship-wide announcement interrupted Kuzzey's explanation. "I repeat, Level 1 Battle Alert, all personnel, report to your battle stations!"

"Hey, what about you?" One of the soldiers near the shuttle yelled at them. "The shuttle is about to leave, hurry up!"

"Ah, wait a second for this guy." Tolle yelled back and pointed at Kira, who was still unable to speak. "This is our destiny. So … see ya." He said his farewell to Kira. "Take care and return to Earth safely." He said and gave Kira a light shove towards the shuttle, which was supposed to transport Kira back to Earth.

"Be safe."

"Whatever happens, don't join the ZAFT!"

They all wished him good luck trough each other and headed towards the exit. Kira followed them with a blank look in his eyes. His mind was a mess again. He'd expected to return to Earth and leave this war behind him TOGETHER with his friends, not alone. He realized that his eyes were traveling from the Discharge Permission in one hand to the paper flower in the other. He had the chance to go away. To leave his friends and be free. If he didn't leave, there was no telling when he would get another chance. It also meant that he would be doing a hell of a lot fighting. He had the power to protect them. Even if he didn't like it, there was little they could do without him. But is that what he wanted? Was that what he really wanted to do? Did he have the will to use his strength to protect his friends?

"If you're coming with us, hurry up!" One of the soldiers called him, bringing Kira back to reality.

Kira crumpled the document, a determined look in his eyes as he realized that he had made the decision long ago. He was only catching up to it. After all there was no other choice. "Please go." He said to the soldier and tossed aside the paper ball. "I am staying on this ship."

xxxxx

"All Mobile Suits have been launched. Time until we engage the enemy … five minutes." Captain Ades notified his commander. Rau acknowledged it with a simple nod of his head. His eyes were focused on the large group of ships, clearly vincible against a large, white field of storm clouds on Earth. A storm was gathering.

"Captain, we've received word from the Lusitano." The communications officer reported. "They'll be here in a minute and they are ready to launch the Raven … whatever that means." The young Lieutenant added wit ha great deal of confusion.

"Excellent." Rau smiled. "Tell them to proceed according to the plan … Let's see what that guy is capable of."

xxxxx

"Raven, you are cleared for launch. Since this is the first time we're working with someone like you, we don't have any specific orders for you. Therefore you are ordered to engage the main enemy force and act according to your discretion."

"Got it, Captain." The Raven replied and made the final adjustments. Everything was working perfectly. Like always. Usually he would feel slight anxiety before a mission, but not today. Today was the big day, advertising day. _Time to show you people who are the true masters of battle. _He gripped the controls tightly. He was ready. Ready to forge a new legend. "All systems green. This is Hustler One, Nine Ball, going out!"


	14. To forge a legend

The battle of the 8th Fleet began just like any other battle up to that point of war. The Alliance's fleet, bent on protecting the Archangel and its valuable cargo formed up a tight defensive position. Close enough that no ship was separated from the whole formation, but loose enough to prevent from being easy targets for the four ZAFT ships' if they tried to take them down with long range fire. To further increase their defense against ship class beam weaponry, every ship facing the advancing group launched salvos of anti-beam depth charges. The large, bulky missiles traveled a short distance before bursting open and disgorging a cloud of short-lived, beam absorbing particles. At the same time, the fleet scrambled all of its Mobile Armors and prepared to meet the enemy Mobile Suits.

They didn't have to wait for long. With the large thrusters on their backs spitting out a trail of exhaust flames, a loose formation of GINNs blitzed their way towards the EA ships. While barely more than ten GINNs seemed far too little to take on a whole fleet, consisting of nearly forty ships, the pilots felt more than confident of achieving their task. Commander Rau had used the opportunity to bolster his forces with experienced and capable pilots. Many of these pilots had already fought and defeated almost impossible odds.

GINNs weren't the only thing endangering Admiral Halberton's ships. Following their comrades were the four stolen prototype Mobile Suits, jam packed with the best technologies EA could develop. Aegis, Buster, Blitz and Duel. Every one of them piloted by members of the red elites, responsible for the destruction of Artemis fortress and the advance force. In a way, these four machines were more dangerous than the four ships and their GINNs taken together.

Finally, as the final nail in the 8th Fleet's coffin, the Raven, going by the alias Hustler One, moved his AC towards the fleet, as he fell in line behind the group of Mobile Suits. Although for now, the mercenary pilot and his capabilities remained a mystery for both his employers and future targets. Of course the feelings were mutual. Hustler One had absolutely no idea about the combat potential of the target formation. However, such thoughts were quickly dismissed. After all, Nine Ball's pilot considered himself, no, he knew that we was the best pilot currently alive and unknown targets didn't really mater. Ravens were famed for their ability to improvise and adapt to a changing battlefield. Therefore, he would do the very same thing. Observe. Assess. Destroy.

Like a swarm of locusts descending on a wheat farm, Mobile Armors swarmed the Mobile Suits. Their linear cannons spitting round after round at the small group, while missiles were launched in such large numbers that every Mobile Suit had at least four missiles to watch out for. However, even outnumbered and forced to dodge fire from not only the numerous small craft, but nearby warships as well, the ZAFT pilots once again made themselves known. With machine canons blazing and missiles corkscrewing from the launchers the GINNs began to reap a deadly harvest. Almost immediately the EA forces were pushed back to their ships where they had at least some chance to survive the onslaught as they were gunned down faster than reinforcements from the remaining fleet could arrive. Sure, from time to time some of the GINNs' pilots made a mistake and received several hits, but even in these cases, the heavy armor, covering their Mobile Suits offered a sound protection from enemy fire, leaving the Mobile suit damaged, but not destroyed. As a whole, they suffered very few casualties. By the time the four Gundams entered the battle, EA had managed to destroy one and damage another Mobile Suit at the price of nearly twenty Mobile Armors and a Drake class frigate.

The arrival of four prototypes was instantly noticeable as the EA casualties skyrocketed almost instantly. And it wasn't just Mobile Armors that were getting destroyed. The advanced Phase Shift armor allowed the small group to approach the warships without any fear from the CIWS network. The numerous shells either exploded harmlessly against the Mobile Suits' armor or were dodged entirely as the pilots moved their machines out of harm's way. Even though you were invulnerable there was no point in allowing your enemy to shoot you at his heart's content. Appearances had to be kept after all. The return salvo was much more devastating. Claiming warships just as easily as Mobile Armors, Aegis, Blitz, Buster and Duel let loose with their weapons again and again, forcing the nearby ships to concentrate their attention on them. In doing so, they drew their attention away from the GINNs and it turned out to be a grave mistake. Several GINNs carried large, recoilless rifles, designed specifically to punch trough the heavy armor most warships fielded, allowing them to start destroying ships on their own. In just few minutes, ZAFT forces claimed six Alliance ships and more Moebius fighters than one could count. And many grimly realized that the battle was only beginning.

xxxxx

Kira felt his back touch the wall of the dressing room as floated into it after Flay had moved toward him to embrace him in a tight hug. "Flay … why are you ..." He still felt surprised to see her in this room, since Flay had absolutely no reason to be here in the first place.

"I … thought you had left." Kira heard her mumble since her face was still buried in his chest. "I came here to ..." A short sob interrupted her as the girl was struggling to choke back the fear and a good deal of relief. "I .. and everyone else stayed behind … to fight. I was the first one … to volunteer." She sobbed again. "That's why I ..." Kira looked around the room and immediately noticed his locker, wide open. He couldn't hold back a surprised gasp when the thought registered. Did Flay actually meant it?

He pushed Flay away so that he could look her in the face. He saw what he'd already suspected. "Flay, could it be that you wanted to something foolish like that?" He nodded towards the locker, where the pilot suit was kept. Kira looked back at her and frowned when he saw the look in Flay's eyes. "A Mobile Suit is too much for you … A girl like you ..." His voice broke when he realized that he might have sounded too harsh, since Flay stared at him with a desperate look on her face. "I'll pilot Strike." Kira said in a more softer tone. "I'll fight for your sake as well. So you won't have to." He assured and went towards the locker.

"Kira … do you really mean it?" Flay gasped in surprise. Kira paused and looked back at her from the locker.

"Yes, I've thought about what you've said … I've decided not to run away anymore." He looked at his suit as if he was looking in a mirror. "This war won't end if we just sit around and do nothing. Therefore I will fight to protect you and everyone else on Archangel."

Flay observed him silently for a few moments and then pushed off, floating towards Kira. She touched his shoulder and breathed in a low voice. "Then … let my feelings protect you." She whispered and leaned closer. Kira tried to say something, but he was cut off by a fierce kiss that burned his lips. His eyes widened in surprise as his mind took hold of the situation, but soon he relaxed and eventually kissed her back.

xxxxx

"Boom! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Hustler One exclaimed when another target went up in flames. He swung his AC around and snapped off a pair of shots, cutting two more Mobile Armors, or whatever they were called, in half. "You guys wouldn't last a second on Utopia!" He laughed and avoided a swarm of missiles with contemptuous ease. In return, he fired a salvo of his own missiles and wasn't surprised to see that not a single missile was intercepted by the defense systems of the small ship, that had targeted him. A dozen missiles struck the Drake class ship's bridge from "above", if that kind of a direction existed in space, cleanly wiping out the brains of the ship. The Raven quickly glanced around and realized that he had reached a relatively calm area of the battle. Everything nearby was either destroyed or running away from him. "That's right. Run! Flee!" He taunted and sent a cannon round after a ship, similar to the one had had just disabled. The high caliber shell blasted a huge chunk out of the area where the four engines were attached to the ship. Judging by the way the ship began drifting, especially after its engines died, he suspected that the gravity would do the rest.

His battle had taken a rather cautious path at first. He'd settled with keeping his distance and carefully observing the battle. Although there wasn't that much to observe. The strange machines, which reminded him of some Muscle Tracer models, had turned out to be barely a challenge at all. The more he had watched the more he had came to realize that there was practically no danger at all. Even though the Raven had almost no zero gravity combat experience whatsoever, he was certain that he could pull his own weight against these targets. Therefore, with boosters blazing and spitting out a bright blue flare, Hustler One had thrown his Nine Ball into the fray.

To say that the Alliance forces noticed the arrival of a new enemy was a gross understatement. It was impossible not to feel the damage this new machine dished out. Entire Mobile Armor squadrons ceased to exist as they were blown apart with deadly accuracy. Or rather cut apart, since the machine was using some sort of an unusual energy weapon. One that fired a continuous beam for a fraction of a second. Even though the duration was very short, the speeds at which the enemy and his luckless target were moving, plus the cutting power of the beam, were enough to slice the Mobile Armor neatly in two. And even if you managed to avoid being hit, there was the small problem of hitting the damn thing in the first place.

The dark red and black machine moved like greased lightning, often pulling off such maneuvers that many Mobile Suit pilots would think twice about before attempting something similar. Not only that, but the pilot seemed perfectly capable of dodging almost everything thrown at him. Weaving trough concentrated CIWS barrages, twisting around linear cannon shots or simply cutting down massed missile salvos, this new enemy posed as much of a threat as the stolen prototypes.

Hustler One threw a look at the radar, no more hostile contacts nearby. "Well, that was easy." He muttered and slid his gaze at the status display. As expected, Nine Ball was performing flawlessly. The Muscle Trace linkup was feeding the information to the computer as always. The fusion heart of his AC was ready to burst as it pumped almost immeasurable amounts of energy into its systems. The armor wasn't even scratched and even if it were, it would take a lot to get trough the protection it offered. MIA (Missile Interception Array) was scanning the front arc of the AC as always, searching for any signs of incoming missiles. The boosters, though idle for now, were like sleeping hounds of hell, ready to howl at the moments notice as they spat out a huge flare of blue light whenever the Raven would require it.

Satisfied with the overall state of his AC Hustler One turned his attention to the weapons. The main weapon of his machine was a brand new 25mm laser carbine. The small weapon in Nine Ball's right hand didn't look that dangerous, at least until it was fired, spitting out a red, highly focused, continuous beam. Although the beam lasted only for half a second and was of relatively small size, it wrecked havoc on any surface that happened to cross its path, cutting the said surface like butter, burning a hole trough an enemy machine almost instantly. A skilled pilot could even use the short duration not to only make an incision, but cut the target in half as well, depending on the resistance of the armor.

The left forearm, slightly bulkier than the right one, housed Nine Ball's only melee weapon. Once activated, the emitters unleashed a long, narrow laser blade, which looked more like a spike than an actual blade, but that was besides the point. This weapon had proven itself over the years and was practically the only weapon that could easily cut trough the ACs' armor. Housing it in the forearm meant that the pilot always had an instantly deployable weapon, useful in an emergency. Not only that, but it was impossible to disarm it without cutting off the entire arm.

The right back weapon, which was attached to the right side of the core behind the shoulder, was another new type of weapon. A twelve tube vertical missile launcher. Unlike conventional missile launchers that fired the missiles directly at the target, vertical missiles were more like an artillery weapon. The missiles were fired upward instead, following an arched trajectory, just like a mortar round, to strike the target from above. This launching method offered two major advantages. One, they could be fired from behind cover, without the need for clear line of fire. Second, the target was forced to divide his attention between the incoming missiles and the AC that fired them.

Finally the left back weapon was something of a classic among Ravens, a 155mm cannon, its barrel currently folded in half to save space. The simple weapon had earned its popularity due to its reliability, ability to fire a wide range of ammo types, excellent recoil absorbers and most importantly – accuracy. It was not uncommon to score hits with almost pinpoint accuracy at distances way beyond a kilometer. In short this was one of those weapons about which you could safely say that they'd be used for a long time, even when more advanced weapons were available.

The short weapons inspection was interrupted by a group of ten Mobil Armors bearing "down" on him, spitting linear cannon rounds as fast as they could, they were followed by a much larger ship than he had encountered before. The ship was not only larger, but carried much heavier armaments as well. The said armaments were immediately used to put pressure on him as they swung around and unleashed a storm of fire as soon as he was in range. Hustler One shook his head in contempt, it really was pathetic. With a slight jerk of the controls he moved Nine Ball out of the flurry of shots. He continued to play with his targets as he allowed to fire at him without returning fire. Let them find out for themselves just how outclassed they were. The thick barrage continued to follow him trough and around the debris that littered the battlefield. However, no matter how hard they tried the damned machine always was slightly ahead of them. After a minute Hustler One decided that he had given them enough chances to land a hit and it was time to go on the offensive. It wasn't his fault that the enemy couldn't touch him, or rather no wonder they couldn't hit him, no one could. He was the best damned pilot there was. And it was about time to show them why … again.

Using his boosters to turn Nine Ball around, so that he was moving backwards, Hustler One let loose a twelve missile salvo, while firing the laser carbine into the tight Mobile Armor formation, destroying one and severely damaging two more. Just as expected the remaining targets scattered like fish in the water. Their evasive maneuvers became even more frantic when the missiles arched "down" and went after their targets. Those who did manage to escape were picked off by precise laser fire as Nine Ball danced around the diminishing formation, destroying the survivors and dodging the attacks from the closing battleship.

With all ten fighters wiped out, Hustler One turned his gaze at the big target. No doubt they were already calling for reinforcements, but everyone was either too far or too busy dealing with Mobile Suits to lend any real help. Not that it mattered, since the said reinforcements would be shot down just like the ones before. It was one on one. David against Goliath. And everyone knew how that story ended.

Kicking the boosters on full burn he escaped the initial attack of the warship's cannons. Several missiles that followed next were nothing to be concerned about. The MIA array took them out in series of bright explosions of fire and smoke. While Nine Ball could weave around the incoming fire, the Nelson class couldn't. It was nowhere near as agile as its opponent. Several explosions rocked the hull as powerful cannon shells slammed into ship's midsection again and again, exposing the interior to the vacuum. Spitting out parts of itself and the crew like blood from a wound, the Nelson class battleship Courageous slowly broke in half. However, Hustler One wasn't done yet. Moving in range of the now disabled CIWS, he positioned his AC right in front of the bridge.

After zooming in, he saw the ship's crew desperately trying to get something out of the disaster that had befallen them. Some were shouting orders that wouldn't reach those they were meant to. Some were running towards the exit in blind panic and some were staring at the machine outside, fear and terror evident in their faces. "Yes, now you get the idea what I am capable of." Hustler One grinned. He reached out with Nine Ball's left hand and waved goodbye. After that, the right hand with the laser carbine came up and vaporized the crew in two red flashes of unimaginable heat.

Leaving the ship to die like a crippled dog, the Raven searched for new targets to practice on. These few engagements had shown him that there was nothing to fear from these opponents. Observation and assessment was over and done. Now it was time to destroy. Consulting his radar and observing the movement of different types of "unknowns" he deduced that his employers were moving towards the middle of the large formation consisting of several more types of "unknowns". He really had to get some data about the machines they used. To bring some order to the radar, which would make life a lot easier.

"Hmm, they're probably going after the flagship or something like that." He looked around, using the Nine Ball's optics to find the said flagship. "Oh, my god..." He gasped when he saw a truly large ship, blasting at the incoming hostiles. "I guess that's the flagship." His face quickly changed from an awe to a predatory grin as he unconsciously licked his lips. He HAD to take out that thing. Just to see if he could if nothing else. With a large flare bursting out from its boosters Nine Ball rushed towards the next target, the Menelaus.

xxxxx

Murrue was not having a good time, despite the fact that the Archangel wasn't directly involved in the battle, for now. First came the surprise when a certain group of people who should have resigned and left for Menelaus, had barged into the bridge and had announced that from now on they were officially part of the OMNI enforcer. Sure, she was happy that there were more people to help operate the ship, but they were children for crying out lout. Children didn't have any place on the battlefield. Of course it was a rather hypocritical way of thinking after she had allowed them to help out after Heliopolis, but that was different. They had volunteered and they didn't have a choice. Now, when the Archangel had reached safety and these students had the chance to leave they should have done just that. They should have left without looking back at the first opportunity they had, instead they chose the complete opposite. To remain on the Archangel and risk their life and neck by helping the undermanned ship.

The second surprise was more like a realization. Slowly, but inevitably the 8th Fleet was getting destroyed. By four ships and a handful of Mobile Suits. It was unbelievable. Sure, ZAFT always had the advantage of quality and skill over the Alliance, who only had numbers on its side. But there was supposed to be a limit on how many opponents a skilled pilot could take on. But no matter how hard they tried the Alliance was still losing. It didn't help that the ZAFT had taken them by surprise, by launching a daring head-on attack on the entire fleet. Something the rookie pilots hadn't been expecting. One after another the ships and Mobile Armors were destroyed so quickly, that they didn't have a chance to regroup and come up with a plan. Any plan that would help them get out of this chaos, since the entire fleet was dying around them with every passing minute.

However, Gundams weren't the only ones at fault. There had been several distress messages on the general frequency regarding another hostile machine heading towards them. The descriptions were very vague at best, since "insanely fast" and "damned bastard" didn't offer anything specific. Attempts to contact the ships for a more precise explanation went unanswered, mostly due to the fact that there was no one left to answer. That alone sent another chill down Murrue's spine. It was one thing to see the 8th Fleet getting destroyed by the stolen prototypes and it was an entirely different thing to hear garbled reports about something new and equally dangerous carving its way towards them.

The comm system beeped, indicating an incoming call from the hangar, judging by the id. As soon as she picked up the receiver, she could already hear Mu's voice. "Hey! Why am I on standby!?" The blond pilot yelled anxiously. "ZAFT forces are wiping out the entire fleet and I'm supposed to sit here and do nothing?" There was a short pause on the other side as Mu tried to calm down. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly calmer, but still no where near his usual calm and relaxed tone. "I know that even if I launch there's not much I can do, but at least its better than nothing!"

"We don't have any instructions allowing this ship to perform any launches!" Murrue retorted slightly harsher than she wanted. The battle was getting to them. "Please wait! I'll try to get some more information." Murrue said and severed the connection, cutting Mu off in the middle of another protest, just as another ship went up in flames. The enemy was getting closer with every passing second. Not wanting to wait until the Mobile Suits arrived, Murrue searched her mind for a way out. ZAFT was after the ship and its two machines. Everyone knew that. And while the Archangel was surrounded by allied forces, it was clear that this wasn't enough. Sooner or later the enemies would break trough the already faltering defenses and then it would all over. She couldn't allow that to happen. "Communications, connect me to Menelaus and put it on screen!" She ordered, realizing that there was only one thing to do.

"This is Admiral Halberton, what do you want?" Lewis's strained voice said from the speakers, when Archangel had managed to establish a connection with the flagship. At the same time, the main screen flickered to display a portion of the Menelaus's bridge where several other officers were ordering the remaining ships to establish something akin to a defensive perimeter around the Archangel and Menelaus.

Murrue swallowed hard, this will not be easy. "Sir, I believe that this battle can't be won if we continue like this. Therefore the Archangel is requesting permission to retreat." Lewis's face filled with shock and confusion, which was quickly replaced with disbelief. "We'd like to begin the drop sequence immediately."

"You want to retreat while the others stay and get slaughtered!?"

"The enemy's target is this ship! If we enter the atmosphere ZAFT will be unable to reach us and they will have no reason to continue their attack. However, if we stay, the 8th Fleet will be wiped out entirely." She paused, letting her words sink in. "Landing at Alaska right now is impossible, but according to our current trajectory, we'll be able to land in territory controlled by Earth Alliance Military. If you can provide cover from ZAFT forces during the initial phase of the procedure I'm certain that this plan will work." Murrue watched the Admiral purse his lips as he considered her proposal. For a moment she couldn't read anything from his face. Just when she believed that Lewis would turn down her offer, the Admiral smiled and shook his head in slight amazement.

"You're still quite a daredevil, Captain Ramius." He said with a grim acceptance in his voice. Murrue let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"It's only appropriate that the subordinate follows her officer."

"All right, the Archangel is to withdraw from the battle and begin its drop sequence immediately. We'll make sure that you reach the entry point … We won't let a single bastard get past us!"

"Thank you, sir!" Murrue said and cut the transmission. Afterwards she addressed the bridge crew. "All hands, prepare for descent sequence!"

xxxxx

Watching the battle from Vesalius's bridge was somewhat entertaining. The EA forces threw everything they could in the Mobile Suits' path, but no matter how hard they tried, the ZAFT pilots continued to carve a bloody path towards the Archangel, shooting down entire squadrons before they even managed to get a feel of the battle. It was times like these that served to remind the Alliance just how outclassed their Mobile Armors were. The average five for one ratio was usually applied when both sides didn't have any advantage and were well informed about the enemy forces. Add experienced and very capable pilots as well as five Redcoats in cutting edge Mobile Suits for ZAFT and surprised rookies for EA and the odds changed drastically. Add the fact that most of the fleet was in complete chaos as damaged ships tried to withdraw and got in the way of new ships heading towards battle and there was no wonder that the four battleships had a relatively peaceful path to the middle of the enemy fleet. Their main concern was to keep up with the Mobile Suits and destroying the remaining ships, many of which were already damaged by Mobile Suits.

Rau spared a second to check how the Raven was doing. While the pilot had been very careful in the early stage of the engagement he had become more aggressive as the battle progressed. There were already three Drake class frigates and two Nelson class battleships on his count alone, as well as a large number of Moebiuses. Just like his pilots, the Raven was fighting his way to the flagship, apparently eager to take out the brains of the fleet. However, unlike his pilots the mercenary was approaching his destination alone, from a different side, not so much destroying everything in his path as simply blitzing past the various ships with an ever increasing amount of Mobile Armors following from behind. But for all their firepower not a single shot had been landed. The machine looked just as pristine as it had been before the launch. That alone was enough to make him think.

He didn't doubt his anonymous friend on Circ-City anymore. The Ravens were capable of dealing with everything the battlefield threw at them. The demonstration he was witnessing right now constantly proved that. But that's what it was, a demonstration. Not only to ZAFT but to the Alliance as well, and that's where he saw problems in the future. Ravens were mercenaries, guns for hire, soldiers of fortune, use every term you wish to describe people who would fight for those willing to pay them. It wouldn't take long for the Alliance to start hiring Ravens of their own and send them against ZAFT. Sure, a GINN was a more dangerous opponent, but Rau didn't fool himself by thinking that a single GINN could defeat a Raven. Something had to be done.

Shelving the gloomy thought for a while, he returned his gaze to the large map display. As expected, the four Gundams were approaching the Archangel while the surviving GINNs stayed back to mop up the remaining targets. Hustler One, a strange alias if he'd ever heard one, was also making progress towards Menelaus. Everything was going according to plan. At least until he noticed a change in the formation. "What are you up to, Admiral Halberton?" He said to himself, as he studied the icons on the display. Every nearby ship was moving towards the enemy forces, while forming up into a solid defensive position. The Archangel, however, was moving further away from the main force and taking a position, which didn't make any sense when it came to combat. It took him a second to realize what was going on. They were trying to cover the Archangel as it descended on Earth. "Captain Ades, I suggest that we move towards the Archangel with everything we got." Even though he was boiling inside from the thought of losing his prey at the last moment, his voice remained completely calm and reserved. "It seems that they are attempting to drop that ship right now. Order everyone to attack! We have to take down that ship no matter what!" Rau ordered and looked at the Agamemnon class carrier. _Damn you Lewis! I won't let you take that ship away from me!_

xxxxx

Ever since the order to descend was given, the battle had changed noticeably. The Alliance ships formed a rigid defensive line and hurled as much firepower at the Mobile Suits as guns would allow. This tactic immediately brought some results as few more GINNs were destroyed by the torrent of munitions, missiles and beams. The firepower poured at the ZAFT machines proved too much to bear and the pilots were forced to fall back unless they were willing to take more than a couple of hits. For a GINN, those couple of hits could prove fatal, since they didn't have the exotic Phase Shift armor to protect them. It was quickly decided to hold back until their own battleships arrived and punched a hole in the formation, allowing the Mobile Suits to utilize the opening and resume the destruction of the enemy ships.

The four Redcoats, responsible for most kills in this battle decided to act differently. Their machines couldn't be hurt by conventional weapons, so they had nothing to fear, save the heavy beam cannons, however, hitting a Mobile Suit with them was pure luck. A mobile Suit was far too agile for the said weapons to track. Therefore, the small group of pilots continued to wreck havoc among enemy lines as they punched into their formation with all guns blazing and working their way closer to the Archangel.

The surviving ships tried to shoot them down, but all they could accomplish was to force the assailants to scatter in various directions. Usually a broken formation spelled disaster for the scattered force, but in some ways it became even worse. Not only they were forced to take fire from several different angles, but the ZAFT ships had arrived as well and added their own considerable firepower to the mix. Despite this, the ships of the 8th Fleet continued their struggle. It was no longer a fight about survival, the only thing that mattered was to throw as many ships as possible in the way of ZAFT's advance, so that the Archangel could descend safely. Obviously it meant more pressure on the enemy forces as the Alliance forces fought without any concern for their lives. Their only goal to delay ZAFT until the Archangel got to safety.

xxxxx

"Re-check the entry vector and perform a hydrokinetics function test." Murrue ordered and fastened the belt. Atmospheric reentry wasn't the smoothest of rides. "Order the crew to prepare for descent." The crew on the bridge worked as fast as they could and all as one shared a fair amount of nervousness. They were fully briefed about the Archangel's capabilities and knew that the ship was built for this. Still, actually performing an orbital descent was much scarier than just talking or carrying it out during a drill. Especially if it was for the first time. Here, there could be no mistakes, if they screwed up the ship, and the crew, were done for. No retries, no angry looks from the Captain by not being able to do what you were supposed to. Just hot, painful death as the ship was torn apart due to a slight miscalculation. Of course they had computers for that, but computers were still made by humans and there were always the possibility of a human made error. Therefore, everyone made sure to double even triple check everything.

"Beginning descent phase one." Neumann announced. _And God help us all!_

"Ma'am, Duel and Buster have broken trough the blockade!" The radar operator yelled, unable to restrain himself during such a critical moment. "The Menelaus is moving to inter... Enemy Ship! A Laurasia class has also broken trough and is approaching us!" Murrue gritted her teeth and tightened her grip around the armrest. Despite all efforts the enemy had managed to fight its way trough the Alliance forces. Even though there were four ships, the Menelaus and it's three escorts, nearby, it was nowhere near enough to ensure the Archangel's safety. On top of that, once started, the descent sequence couldn't be aborted just like that. It was a long and complicated process, during which the ship was a sitting duck for the enemy fire.

The comm system beeped again. This time the caller was more persistent and forced his call trough to the visual comms on Murrue's chair. It was Mu again, only this time he was fully clad in his flight suit and was sitting inside his Zero. "Captain! I know it's a bad time, but how much time do we have until the limit point? Let us out until then, so that we can buy us some time."

"What are you talking about? Do you intend to launch at a situation like this? … Preposterous." Murrue paused when something registered in her mind. "Wait … we?"

"According to specs, the Strike is capable to descend on its own." Another call came trough, this time it was Kira. His voice caused several gasps and surprised stares across the bridge. Everyone had thought that Kira had left with the Menelaus's shuttle. No one expected him to stay behind, especially since this war had caused him so much trouble. "If we don't do something the Menelaus will be in danger." He continued in a much determined voice than usual.

A few seconds later, Daniel's voice also sounded from the speakers. "Yeah, I agree with what he said. Minus the descend part." Like Kira, Daniels was also at the controls of his machine, finishing the last prelaunch checks.

"You two? Why are you here? You were supposed to leave with the shuttle." Murrue couldn't believe her eyes. However, her words were mostly aimed at Kira. Daniel's obsession with the Pulverizer was well know to her, so she wasn't surprised to see the boy at its controls. Still the slight shock held her in its power and prevented her from snapping out of it.

With an exasperated sigh Natarle jumped up from her chair and reached towards the CIC's comm system. "Fine, if you are willing to go then you have permission to launch. However, be sure to return before the third descent stage begins. Also, be careful, we're about to enter Earth's gravity well, so keep that in mind. Even if Strike's specs says it fine, no one has ever tried it. We don't know what might happen on the inside, so don't take any chances."

"Yes." Kira nodded and signed off. Natarle's unexpected ignorance of the command order, finally broke Murrue out of her confused state.

She jumped from her chair and glared at her subordinate. "Ensign Badgiruel!" The fact that the woman had acted on her own and allowed the three pilots to launch, even though it was the right thing to do, upset her more than the breach of formalities.

"If our ship is shot down, the the 8th Fleet's sacrifice will be for nothing." Natarle returned the glare as she backed up her decision. Their conflict came to an end when a pair of high caliber beams streaked past the Archangel.

The Gamov, after breaking trough the defensive perimeter, had opened fire. The long range attack was inaccurate for now, but it wouldn't take long for the ship's crew to make the necessary adjustments and then the white ship would be finally brought down. In order to prevent this, the Menelaus moved into position between Gamov and its target and opened fire. Since the large carrier was a bigger threat, the ZAFT ship turned its attention towards it, and soon both ships were engaged in fierce battle.

xxxxx

Kira, Mu and Daniel had little time to incorporate the increasing gravity pull in their combat strategies, since they came under fire scant seconds after the launch. Those were stray shots at first coming from the desperate struggle further away where the remaining fleet was attempting to retreat since ZAFT forces, except Gamov, Duel and Buster hesitated to risk being pulled down to Earth. Some of the shots were more precise, since they were more or less aimed at them, specifically at Kira.

Duel, piloted by one vengeful Yzak Joule, blitzed towards the Strike, firing the beam rifle with ever increasing accuracy as the distance between them decreased. Kira didn't hesitate to return fire and when they were close enough, both pilots almost instantly switched to beam sabers and went on trying to score the fatal blow without letting the opponent do the same thing first. Unlike before, their duel was more ferocious. They attacked each other so aggressively that the duel was almost over after the first few strikes since neither one cared for their safety. Yzak was obviously seeking revenge for the humiliation suffered in their last engagement, while Kira was so determined to protect the Archangel like never before. Only then they cooled down a little and tried incorporating some strategy in their attacks.

Mu went against a foe he was already familiar with. The Buster. At first, he was lucky, Dearka was so focused on ravaging one of the three remaining Drake escorts that he didn't notice Mu's arrival. Only his enhanced reflexes allowed him to dodge the initial barrage. Even though Zero's weapons posed no danger to his Mobile Suit, it would be humiliating to allow a Natural land the first hit. Not bothering to separate his weapons Dearka aimed the anti-armor shotgun at the annoying fighter and unleashed a volley of anti-armor charges. While annoyed, he wasn't surprised that the Mobile Armor managed to avoid the munitions cluster, Mu La Flaga had to be a worthy adversary. No way was their fight going to end with a single shot. Leaving the destroyed wreck behind, the Buster fully faced the incoming Zero and, after disconnecting the main weapons, went after the nimble craft. Mu replied by releasing the gunbarrels and guiding them towards an effective attack angle. He understood that he couldn't harm the big machine, but he could delay it for long enough.

Much to everyone's surprise Daniel went for the Gamov. He did that for several reasons. One was to somehow repay the man who had allowed him to remain with the Pulverizer. Another reason was to use the opportunity while Gamov was under attack from three ships at once. One being Menelaus itself, while the remaining two were its Drake class escorts. He reasoned that with the ZAFT ship being so hard pressed just to survive, it wouldn't have time to spare for a single machine. The CIWS network was probably the only thing that could actually endanger him, but currently the point defense weapons were busy dealing with missiles constantly being fired from the Alliance ships. Therefore he reputed himself being relatively safe. For now. With a short and decisive sigh, he armed the plasma cannons and began his approach.

His threat display lit up almost instantly as a pair of CIWS emplacements oriented themselves at the Pulverizer. Apparently someone on the ship had decided that he was a bigger threat than the missiles. This made him feel good and bad at the same time. Good because ZAFT saw him as a threat. That might not sound like much, but to him it was something of an achievement. ZAFT, THE ZAFT, the very same organization that continuously decimated the Earth Alliance forces and about whom he had read in the newspapers or had heard in the news, had acknowledged that he was a threat. Like a fan being recognized as one of their own by his favorite star player football team, so did Daniel felt recognized as a threat by ZAFT. Of course that had a lot to do with the bad thing. Now that he was a threat, he had to put his skills to the test by dodging the hail of shells coming his way.

It was no easy task. Even with the control level given to him by the Muscle Tracing linkup, he could barely avoid getting shot, still, nothing prevented him from mashing down the triggers for his plasma cannons, which sent series of azure bolts towards the Gamov. Most of the shots, fired on the move, went wide and missed by several meters. Fortunately for him, the need to dodge didn't last long. A pair of massive beams from the Menelaus's cannons seared away Gamov's port side CIWS and one of the railgun turrets. The said CIWS were the same ones targeting the Pulverizer, so for now, Daniel got some breathing room, which gave him a chance for a second attempt.

The blue bolts slammed straight into the warship's hull. And that's when Daniel noticed something unusual about them. Unlike the magnetically sheathed plasma beams, used by warships and the five prototypes, the plasma orbs behaved differently. Usually a beam would burn trough the target surface, but the blue bolts sort of splattered on contact with a surface much tougher than a Mobile Suit's armor, as if it was made from some sort of gel. Melting wide, gaping holes in the Gamov's hull, many times the size of their diameter, the Pulverizer's weapons caused horrific damage as plasma burned deeper into the ship.

Impressed by the raw power of his weapons, Daniel continued to pepper the ship with more bolts, slowly walking them towards the ship's main guns. Although this time he was more careful not to fire too quickly. The memories of his last battle were still fresh in his mind. He cursed when the Gamov almost casually destroyed one of the frigates and began turning one of the main guns at him, while focusing the remainder of its firepower at Menelaus. The other Drake class was trying to get into an advantageous position behind the Laurasia class. But before Daniel could proceed and destroy one of the Gamov's main guns, several events began to take place very rapidly.

The first thing was the return order from the Archangel. The ship had almost reached the limit point and ordered its pilots to break off from any engagements and return back. The second event took the form of four beams lancing into the Gamov's midsection as the Menelaus scored a devastating hit. The already damaged ship neatly broke in half and, before a single escape shuttle could be launched exploded in a fiery explosion as the combined destructive might of the Menelaus's beam cannons and the ever increasing punishment from the atmospheric reentry proved too much for the Gamov. The third thing was the shuttle, transporting Heliopolis's survivors, being launched from the slowly dying ship. Finally, the fourth thing was of the historical type. The last Drake class frigate, already falling to pieces from the intense heat suddenly lost its front section due to an explosion caused by hostile fire. Daniel turned around to see the cause of such sudden explosion and that's when he saw it. In fact, that's when everyone saw it.

Riding in front of a blue exhaust flame was a dark red machine, with black paint serving as a secondary color. The machine was also built unlike a Mobile Suit. The "Y" shaped profile due to the protruding body, also known as the core. The proportionally large legs. The conically shaped head, bearing some resemblance to a dog's head with two parallel, horizontal lines serving as a visor and glowing with the same blue light as the one coming from the machine's boosters. All of it, the entire build, was almost the same as the Pulverizer. I twas clear to everyone, that these two machines were somehow related. For Daniel it was made even more obvious when the Pulverizer's computer announced. "AC Nine Ball identified."

"AC? As in Armored Core?" Daniel recalled his conversation with Domenic. The brief mention of Ravens, who, according to the Pulverizer's database, were extremely dangerous. Well, he didn't need a computer to tell him that this AC, this Nine Ball, was dangerous, he could see it for himself. Moving faster than any Mobile Suit he had seen, the AC shot towards the Menelaus. The large carrier opened up with its CIWS, but to no effect. Not only did the machine avoided getting hit, but the pilot made it look easy. As it was so easy that anyone could pull it off. With both arms stretched out to either side the Nine Ball circled around the Menelaus, letting everyone get a full view of itself and sort of warning them what was about to happen.

The demise of Menelaus, the largest ship of the now destroyed 8th Fleet was fast and spectacular. With two quick shots from the long barreled weapon behind its left shoulder, the AC disabled the ship's main engines. Even though it was far too late for the flagship to escape the gravity pull, the engines were the only thing slowing it down and giving the crew time to get to the escape shuttles. With the engines destroyed, the mighty ship plummeted towards Earth like a rock. However, the Raven wasn't done. Moving back to the front of the ship he landed his AC on the ship's nose and slid, not ran and not float, slid across the ship towards its bridge. As the AC got between the beam cannons it turned and continued the maneuver sideways, while taking out both turrets with either a cannon round or a laser beam fired backwards over the shoulder. The grand finale came when the machine reached the bridge. Reaching out with the left arm the AC ignited a long, red laser blade and plunged it into the bridge. The armored windows offered no protection at all, as they began to melt from the intense heat. Any thoughts about survivors were dismissed as well, since the blade was long enough to etch a molten line in the back wall. With a precise and quick movement, the AC moved sideways, entirely ripping open the bridge windows.

Daniel watched this gruesome spectacle with an empty feeling in his stomach. Although he knew that people were getting killed he found himself enthralled by the display. The way that AC moved, the precision, the fluidness of its moves. They were so smooth, so fluid, so … perfect. He could only stare at the Menelaus's execution, carried out by the unknown pilot. But along with admiration he also felt fear. Not the obvious-deadliness-of-the-pilot fear, but more like hidden, subconscious fear, streaming from the machine in all directions, flowing trough him and settling somewhere deep inside. It felt like his view on the whole world had changed forever. As if he had witnessed the creation of a masterpiece that would amaze the entire world for generations to come. It felt wonderful and frightening at the same time.

When he finally regained control over his body, he wasted little time high tailing it for the Archangel. He knew it full well that he was no match for a pilot like that. The guy had just wiped out the biggest ship the EA had and had made it look like a child's play. No way was he going to remain in such hostile territory. He would be killed before he knew what was going on. Ravens are the Primal Threat. These words repeated themselves in his mind like a never ending mantra. No wonder that Controller thing wanted them dead. And he couldn't help notice that Ravens were mentioned in plural, as in they were more than one. He had no idea how many were there, but just this one was more than enough for him.

Gunning the booster as fast as he could, Daniel aimed for the Archangel, expecting a shot in the back at every second. Luckily for him, it didn't come, so he was able to safely land right next to Mu's Zero. The Mobile Armor was the first to make it to safety, only Kira in his Strike remained. After landing, Daniel risked a glance back and what he saw made him swallow. Hard. The Nine Ball, was far above them, gradually increasing the distance between them as it tried to escape the gravity pull. But the scary thing was that the AC was "looking" at him. Not the ship, not the Mobile Armor, him. The empty feeling increased tenfold when the AC pointed its left hand at him and made a gesture as if firing a gun. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. He would have continued to stare back at the red and black machine if he hadn't heard Kira's voice across the international channel.

"No! Don't shoot!" He looked just in time to see the Duel aiming at the Menelaus's shuttle with its beam rifle, while Strike tried to intercept the attack with its shield. Fruitlessly. The beam speared trough the small transport and a large fireball came into existence as the shuttle was destroyed. The explosion was strong enough to hurl the Strike far away from the Archangel and the planned landing course.

* * *

**A/N** - Okay, the 8th Fleet has been wiped out and the first AC has finally made its appearance. I hope that the battle scenes were satisfactory, since I've always considered my ability to write a decent action part somewhat lacking. Anyway, I feel like I have to explain one thing, namely, how overpowered the Hustler One appeared. Well, there's a reason for that, in Armored Core universe, Hustler One is something of a legend and is often considered THE pilot of ACs, therefore I felt justified in 'boosting" him up a little. However, bear in mind that no one's unbeatable and Hustler One (whoever that guy is...) is no exception ... I think.

- Asmus


	15. The changing wind

Gabriel looked around and realized that he was staring. Something that upset him to no end. He was supposed to be better than this. Someone sent to represent Kisaragi's interests on PLANTs was supposed to maintain some degree of dignity, not gape at everything like a country yokel in the big city. However, no matter how hard he tried not to, he always felt his eyes start to wonder around whenever he focused his thoughts on something else. Realizing that he needed some time to get used to the new environment he looked around and was relieved to see a free bench nearby. Leaving the shuttle terminal behind him, Gabriel briskly walked over to the bench and sat down. Once seated, he let out a deep sigh and for once allowed himself to succumb to some of his urges. Almost immediately he was looking around again, his eyes straining to take in everything and everyone.

When he was told, that he would have to travel to PLANT's he had imagined a couple of small stations, similar to Circ-City, filled with numerous corridors and small rooms for the people living there. At least that's what came to his mind when he heard the words "colonies in space". Small, cramped structures, with lots of vents, bulkheads and everything else that made up his opinion of a living environment in space. Throw in the fact that most of Kisaragi's employees were certain that Earth's technology level was supposed to be years and years behind them, it did wonders to explain why Gabriel saw something he hadn't expected even in the slightest.

The PLANT's turned out to be a large number of highly developed space colonies. The interior was simply breathtaking. Trees, lakes, small forests and artfully pleasing parks filled the nearby area. Placed between and around the streets and buildings of Aprilius One, it all served to create a wonderfully aesthetic scenery. Gabriel glanced up and let out another gasp when he saw the same scenery mirrored on the second continent about thirty kilometers above his head. Each of the two continents was a round piece of land ten kilometers in diameter, joined together by the main support shaft stretching in the middle like a giant spine.

"Well I'll be..." Gabriel muttered when he realized that this picturesque construction was in space. Floating in the cold, hard vacuum. However, even this thought was hard to hold onto, since the holographic skies, covering the massive glass walls of the PLANT, made it difficult to see outside. But he could see clearly enough to spot a whole bunch of similar colonies, all stretched out in neat groups, outside. The whole thing seemed so surreal, life and beauty was thriving where there shouldn't be any. It was enough to make him smile in amazement. Kisaragi had made a huge understatement. But for Gabriel, it was something that made him smile in amazement. He loved surprises like this. There was something almost magical in witnessing that humanity had not only progressed far enough to live in space, but to even spare time and effort to make their surroundings enjoyable. And it wasn't just the constructions that surprised him. The inhabitants themselves turned out to be unlike anything he expected.

Gabriel was long used to receiving strange looks concerning his hair. You didn't see people his age with white hair that often. However, when compared to the hair and eye colors he was seeing Gabriel felt somewhat ordinary. Pink, violet, green, blue, orange and numerous other colors and shades were represented as various people passed him. Not only that, but Gabriel noticed that they all looked so young and perfect. The build, the gait, everything. Everything was seemingly flawless. It was as if they had stepped out of a fashion magazine. A very thick fashion magazine, since no matter where he looked, everyone possessed that almost unnatural flawlessness. In short it was a culture shock to the extreme.

When the initial wave of confusion had passed and his eyes had gotten more or less used to the strange sight, Gabriel decided that he had calmed down enough to get back to his task. He checked his watch. He had more than enough time to make his way to the Supreme Council chambers for his supposed meeting with Siegel Clyne. Gabriel's task was to act not only as Kisaragi's eyes and ears in PLANTs, but to discuss possible cooperation between the two. Of course, while a boy his age acting as an envoy wasn't anything unheard of in PLANT's where people matured much sooner, Gabriel wasn't a Coordinator. That raised one question. Why would Kisaragi send a sixteen-year-old to be their representative? To answer this, perhaps a more detailed information about Gabriel and his family would be in order.

The Angelos family had served the Kisaragi practically from the first generation. Every member of the Angelos family had been raised as a servant from the day they were born and Gabriel was proud to continue this tradition. However, unlike most servants whose duties mainly consisted of cooking, cleaning and other similar tasks, the Angelos family were expected to be more like assistants. Negotiations, several forms of management, politics and other business-related aspects were the main duties of all Angelos family members. While putting yourself in someone's service for life might not sound appealing, for Angelos family it was an honor. Of course Angelos weren't the only family employed by Kisaragi. There were others who fulfilled different tasks. The whole corporation was resting on the shoulders of various families, while the Kisaragi stood on top and guided the corporation's course with their decisions.

However, that didn't explain why Gabriel was where he currently was. The reason was in most aspects very simple. Gabriel was a genius. A child prodigy with mind capable of absorbing knowledge like a sponge. He learned how to talk by the age of two. Not "mommy" or "daddy" like others his age, but full sentences making up a perfectly normal conversation. By the age of ten, he was already learning the art of negotiation and politics, and easily absorbing the Angelos family ideology. He was expected to become a perfect assistant and one that would make his family proud, if not for one problem.

During his education, Gabriel had displayed a great deal of interest about another family working for Kisaragi. One that provided Kisaragi with something that could be called elite guards. Not only that, but Gabriel had learned some things from them, much to his dismay of his parents, who held a firm view that Angelos family had no place on a battlefield. But the prevention came too late and the end result was a perfectly educated assistant, who was also capable of protecting the corporation on the battlefield. Despite the fact, that in some ways he had betrayed his family, one thing was clear. If anyone could lay the foundations of a friendship between PLANTs and Kisaragi, Gabriel Benedict Von Angelos was more than capable of accomplishing that.

However, Gabriel knew very well that this would be no easy task. Earning PLANTs' trust would be a long and delicate process, especially when Kisaragi wanted it done as soon as possible. Yoshirou had made it clear that he wanted to start moving the corporation to the PLANTs in the next month and finish it in the next two or three months. For Gabriel it meant that he would have to work really hard in order to reach an agreement with the Supreme Chairman. He didn't mind, on the contrary, Gabriel actually enjoyed a task like this. It was another great opportunity to serve Kisaragi.

The reason why Yoshirou was determined to leave Circ-City was the same reason that worried the other two corporations. Namely, they were running out of supplies. Circ-City had enough resources to supply them for half a year at best. This problem had appeared shortly before they departed for Earth. For reasons unknown the docking corridor, which ensured that the Ark was connected to the station, had broken. It had been to late to do anything and the ship had passed trough the gateway without any guidance from the Circ-City. This meant that the ship would go to a completely different location, if it survived the trip in the first place. As of now, the ancient colony ship, which had brought everyone to Utopia and turned into a warehouse before departure, was probably drifting somewhere among the stars, while being packed to the brim with valuable supplies and other vital resources that would have helped the Circ-City.

Not wanting to dwell on thoughts about what could have happened, Gabriel focused back on the present. What's done done, no use crying over spilled milk. He had a mission to accomplish.

xxxxx

"WHAT!? The 8th Fleet was destroyed? How?! When?!" Domenic yelled and leaned over the desk, so that he could have a better look at the monitor. Viktor motioned him to stay quiet and urged the man on the monitor to continue. Domenic muttered something incomprehensible, but did as he was told and sat back in his chair.

"Destroyed, you say? Do you have any details?" Viktor asked in his usual quiet voice, completely ignoring the flood of silent curses that flowed from Domenic's direction. The man in the monitor closed his eyes for a moment as he composed his answer. Viktor allowed him to take his time, since the man was one of the few survivors of the 8th Fleet and was completely loyal to him. This transmission was a definite proof of that, since the officer had called Viktor as soon as he had gotten his hands on a radio powerful enough to contact the 11th Fleet.

"Well, everything happened very quickly. Those ZAFT bastards charged in at full speed and before we even realized what was going on, they had already wiped out most of the fleet. Even when we managed to start fighting back, there was nothing we could do against those damned machines."

"You couldn't take out a bunch of GINNs? It was supposed to be a small group of familiar Mobile Suits and you even managed to lose to THEM? Are you really from the Atlantic Federation?" Domenic couldn't hold back a snort, despite the warning glare he received from Viktor.

"I wasn't talking about GINNs. Those we could have handled. It was those five stolen prototypes that fucked us, not the GINNs."

"Five? ZAFT stole only four."

"I know what I saw, sir. There was the Duel, Buster, Blitz, Aegis and one real strange looking Mobile Suit. I didn't get the name of the fifth machine, but it was definitely on their side."

"Interesting, tell me about this fifth unit."

"Well, it moved real fast, and no matter what we threw at it we didn't even scratch the bastard. Not only that, but it was obvious that he was toying with us. That thing took out the flagship and made it look easy. I was lucky to get away from that bastard." The man paused for a while, trying to recall more details about the attacker. "Oh, and it looked a lot like that … what was its name again? You know that funny looking Mobile Suit on the Archangel." Viktor took a sharp breath, but his face showed no emotion. "I can't remember anything else about that thing, but I'm sure someone's managed to get that thing on camera. I'll try to find the recording and I'll make sure to send it to you, sir."

"Good. One more question, what happened to the Archangel?"

"The Archangel? Last time I heard, they managed to pull off that descent thing of theirs, but I heard that something went wrong during the last phase and they went off course. I'll inform you when I learn something more."

"Good. Thank you." Viktor cut the transmission. "It just keeps getting better and better." He muttered and rubbed his face before resting it in one palm. Although looking tired from the outside, he was already searching for a way to turn this disaster into an advantage.

"I bet it was Le Creuset." Domenic spoke up after a moment of silence. "Attacking a superior enemy force with a handful of Mobile Suits is something only a guy like him would attempt."

"Yes, it does sound like him. That guy has been causing a lot of problems for us lately." Viktor grudgingly admitted. "I heard we even tried to assassinate him once, but he wiped out the hit team before they could kill him." Domenic looked at him thoughtfully and nodded in agreement. If a man could take out trained killers sent after him, it meant that the said man was truly dangerous. Especially if the Alliance had acknowledged him dangerous enough to send a hit team in the first case, since assassinating high-level ZAFT commanders was a risky job, one that could mean losing highly trained and valuable operatives. "But I'm also concerned about that Raven who participated in the 8th Fleet's destruction. If ZAFT is hiring Ravens it could mean similar disasters in the future."

"Are you sure it was a Raven?"

"You heard it yourself, Domenic. That man said, that the machine looked a lot like the Pulverizer and since ZAFT has no Muscle Tracers in its possession, it is easy to figure out who was our mysterious friend." Domenic thought for a while before realizing something.

"That brings up one important question. What do we do about the Pulverizer? I mean, what will we do when the corporations find out about not only the one on Archangel, but the ones we're keeping at Bastion? I'm certain that they would want some explanations as to why there are Pulverizers on Earth when there shouldn't be any?"

"Good question … Yes, they'll want answers … I think, the right choice would be to tell them the truth. However, I think there's a way around this. We can say that we found them in a container after it crashed on Earth. That is the truth anyway. And we can also say that the one on Archangel is the only one that remained intact. As for the others, well, we can tell them that they were mostly useless scrap."

"Which is the same thing as telling them the truth, since they are mostly scrap." Domenic slowly raked his short hair, unconsciously knocking the beret on the floor. "I mean sometimes I wonder why do we even bother with the last one? Sure its control programs are intact and we can probably piece together three or four additional Pulverizers, if we cannibalize others for parts, but it won't change anything. Especially if we put them against Ravens."

"What you say is true, but I'm not interested in building more of them. I'm interested in the fusion reactors those things have. If we can get the control program for those generators and activate them, we will have twenty fusion generators. With them we will be able not only to start solving the energy crisis, but we won't be so dependent on Crest to share the technology with us. What?" He realized that Domenic was staring at him with his mouth slightly open from disbelief.

"I'll be honest, sir." Domenic closed his eyes for a long moment as he tried to find appropriate words for his thoughts. "You want that thing to revive our industry instead of using it to win this war?" His eyes slowly opened, settling on the Colonel. Domenic always knew that Viktor had something in mind regarding the Pulverizer, but he couldn't even imagine that his boss would use it for creation, not destruction, which was the reason why the Pulverizers were built in the first place. He had imagined that Viktor would try to at least replicate them or something along those lines. It didn't make any sense in the soldier's mind. Weapons were made to fight wars with, not used as an energy source. Hell, it was like smelting tanks to build school buses or ambulances. "Is that what you are saying?"

"In a nutshell, yes. I did have some doubts about my decision at first, but when I learned more from the information we put together, it became obvious that my choice was correct. Pulverizers are no match for Ravens, so placing them on a battlefield would be a waste. Instead, they will serve a noble purpose allowing us to manufacture more weapons."

"More weapons, like the ones ZAFT is destroying by the bucketfuls?"

"No. That's where the Strike comes in. Assuming it reaches Alaska. Once we are able to mass-produce it, I believe it will allow us to defeat ZAFT."

"You mean IF it reaches Alaska." Domenic clarified sourly and picked up the beret. "For now, it looks like we, I mean, you, have placed all your eggs in one basket. One which is probably entering Earth's atmosphere at close to terminal velocity right now." His movement allowed him to hide his grin. It wasn't everyday, that he got the chance to point out flaws in Viktor's plans. Even though it was a dangerous thing to do, sometimes he just couldn't resist. One had to feel the adrenaline in his blood once in a while. Besides, he was the only one who knew Viktor well enough to pull off stunts like that. "Or maybe it has already landed somewhere we can't reach it." He put his uniform's accessory where it belonged and looked back at Viktor. Much to his dismay the man was looking at him with a grin that quickly wiped off his own. "Um, sorry sir?"

"No, no, you are correct. That is why I have a special task for you." Though humorous at first, Viktor's voice turned serious. "The 11th Fleet can't stay here any longer, ZAFT will probably try to act up again and Admiral Meicoon will be needed elsewhere. I can't stay here either, mister Azrael is expecting my report and I need to convince him that cooperating with Crest is in his best interests, despite the gene therapy. Also, the death of Admiral Halberton has created a power gap among people opposing Blue Cosmos. Without him, they don't have anyone to lead them and we have to use this opportunity to strengthen the organization's power in the Alliance's High Command, before another leader emerges to take the Admiral's place.

"You and the Scipio will remain here and replace me. Now, you will have two tasks. One will be to make sure that we earn Garon's trust. You'll have full authority to work out the details of Crest's transportation. Just make sure that he stays with us. Try to get into contact with Leon Degalo and find out what is Mirage up to, but focus primarily on Crest. Your second task will be to get into contact with Ravens. I believe Garon might help you with that, if not, then you'll have to do it yourself. Once it is done, I want you to hire one of them to find the Archangel and make sure that the ship gets to Alaska in one piece. And I don't care how much it costs."

"I understand the first task, but the second … hiring a mercenary?" Domenic said dubiously.

"I know it sounds risky, but we have to face the facts. Just one of those Ravens played an important role in the destruction of Admiral Halberton's forces. Think of what they could achieve if ZAFT hired more and unleashed them against our Lunar shipyards or any of our fleets, or any other target." Viktor allowed the words to hang in the air for a moment, while they both considered them. "No matter how distasteful it might be, we have to consider hiring them. Besides, you, as well as I, know full well that they are not ordinary mercenaries. In some ways Ravens have already become the third side in this war. It would be stupid to ignore them." Domenic swallowed slowly and gave it a second thought.

"Fine, sir." He said morosely. "I'll see what I can do about them. Anything else?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. There is one more thing I want you to look into..."

xxxxx

Siegel Clyne glanced at the small pile of documents and felt the unpleasant feeling in his stomach increase. No matter how long he worked, the stack on one corner of his desk didn't seem to change even the slightest. In fact, it seemed to increase instead. And all of them had to be looked trough, inspected and finally signed. Afterwards they would be sent to wherever they came from putting some new law, directive or any other of the numerous decisions he had to make, in motion.

Most of the time people didn't realize that being a Supreme Council Chairman was actually a hellish job to do. Sure, you could do a lot of things an average person on the street couldn't, but the price for that was horrendous. Most of the time his daily schedule was filled with boring meetings, tedious tasks and other things that made his work highly unpleasant.

Not only that, but he had one hell of a responsibility on his shoulders. Leading an entire nation was hard. People seemed to expect that he had to do everything in their place and most of the time when he had passed some law that had an impact on the PLANT citizens' daily lives, there were a lot of people who started bitching and moaning about how unfair or stupid the government was. And that was just from the ordinary citizens. Everyone with even a tiny bit of political power tried to do anything to influence the Council's decisions one way or another. Everyone wanted a bigger piece of the pie.

Sometimes it was enough to make him feel like simply throwing everything aside and leaving the decision making to whoever wanted, but Siegel knew that it wasn't an answer. Without a strong leader, the PLANTs would fall into anarchy and corruption. And something like that would give the Earth Alliance more than enough of a chance to not just kick ZAFT off of Earth, but even attack the PLANTs directly. Of course he doubted that the EA would go that far, but there were times when he wasn't sure what to think.

The destruction of EA's 8th Fleet was one such example. Rau Le Creuset had not only defeated Admiral Halberton, but had ordered the complete destruction of the enemy force. Scattered and broken, the surviving ships were like sitting ducks for ZAFT forces. Out of the entire fleet, only five ships had been reported being fast enough to escape the destruction. Such a complete destruction of the enemy was too much for his taste. It also made the Alliance feel more vindictive and increased the chance that they wouldn't be satisfied by simply winning the war. No, if they continued like this, there was no telling what would happen. That's why he constantly tried to start a dialogue with the Earth Alliance. The war had been going on for far too long in his opinion. It had to stop. Preferably by a diplomatic solution, not complete destruction of one side.

The console in his desk beeped, signaling a call from his assistant. He reached out and took the call. "Yes, what is it?" Siegel wasn't surprised to find out that his voice sounded tired and depressed. It tended to happen with all the gloomy thoughts going around his head.

"The representative from Kisaragi has arrived. It's mister … umm..." She hesitated for a moment as she tried to read the name.

"It's Gabriel Benedict Von Angelos, milady." A youthful voice provided. A slight amusement crossed Siegel's face when he heard the representative's words. _Milady?_ Who talks like that in this day and age?

"I see, let him in." He informed his assistant and used the few seconds it took this Gabriel to walk to his office, to tidy up his workplace a bit. He only managed to gather the documents into a loosely organized stack and shove them into a drawer before the doors opened and a young man entered the office.

"Ah, Gabriel Benedict Von Angelos, I've been expecting you. Please, come in." He stood up and rounded his desk. "I am Siegel Clyne the Supreme Council Chairman and I am pleased to meet you."

"Likewise, sir." Gabriel smiled and shook the offered hand.

"I see … Please, sit down mister Angelos." Siegel took the lead by gesturing towards a pair of chairs in front of his desk. At the same time he couldn't help to notice that this young man spoke with greater maturity than most teenagers he knew. However, even though there were a lot of young people occupying high positions in PLANTs, he was slightly confused by seeing this boy acting as a high level envoy. "I understand that you have been sent here to represent a corporation known as Kisaragi." He walked back to his own chair and sat down, firmly fixing his gaze on Gabriel. "Honestly speaking I was expecting someone … older. No offense of course." To his surprise Gabriel smiled an understanding smile.

"I understand you concerns, sir. It is something I encounter rather often. And while I don't want to sound arrogant, but there is a saying "excellence knows no age" and I seem to be an example to these words." Gabriel gave an apologetic, slight bow before continuing. "Please, rest assured, I am fully capable of dealing with most diplomatic situations and tasks. Of course, if you prefer dealing with someone older, I will take care of it."

"No, there's no need." Siegel waved it off. "I was simply surprised. Besides, if Kisaragi trusts you then there's no reason for me to question your abilities." He fell silent for a moment as he put together his next sentence. "Now, I understand that Kisaragi is interested in cooperating with the PLANTs. Is that correct?" Gabriel took his time to answer. His thumbs circling each other in his lap, while he made up his mind about what was safe enough to reveal.

"Yes, that is correct and I have to stress that we are eager to reach an agreement as soon as possible. As you probably know already, Circ-City will soon experience a shortage of food and other necessities. While I believe that we could work out some kind of a supply agreement, we both know that it would be a short-term solution and a risky one at that."

"What are you proposing?"

"Mister Yoshirou has expressed his willingness to move the corporation to PLANTs."

"Kisaragi to PLANTs!?" Siegel took a sharp breath when Gabriel's words registered. He weighed the thought in his mind. Letting one of the three corporations nestle in PLANTs was a big risk. There was no telling what they had in mind. He'd heard several reports about the first meeting, many of them suspecting a fierce rivalry between the three factions and that was something he didn't want to involve PLANTs in. But he couldn't simply refuse the offer because of some suspicions. At least until he got some more information about how serious the threat was. "That's a big request in exchange for a cooperation." He stalled for time. Of course there was a fair amount of truth in Gabriel's words. Maintaining regular supply runs in times of war was no mean task. Also, they couldn't keep it up forever. Letting Kisaragi set up in PLANTs would solve a lot of problems and would also serve as a huge gesture of goodwill. Besides, it wasn't like they couldn't spare some room for them. Thousand or so people wouldn't make a difference to a population measuring in several millions already.

"Yes, I understand that our request might seem too rushed, but realize that Kisaragi is at the end or the line, so to speak, and remaining on Circ-City is not an option. Of course in return for transportation, living space and initial supplies, you will gain a valuable ally."

"I see, cooperation with Kisaragi does have its merits. Judging from what I've heard, you have lot to offer us." Siegel admitted. "However, it's not something I can decide right now or on my own. I will bring it up in the next Council meeting, so we will decide the nature of our cooperation and probably discuss the terms about the transfer. Naturally I would like you to attend the meeting as Kisaragi's representative."

"Ah, excellent. I'll look forward to the meeting then. I hope that I will be able to convince PLANTs about the advantageousness of working together." Gabriel smiled at him. Truly happy about the possible agreement. However, Siegel's next question made him more than a little bit uncomfortable.

"Mister Angelos, there is something else I want to talk to you about." Siegel steepled his hands in front of him. "As you probably already know, the PLANTs are currently at war with the Earth Alliance. Now, yesterday our forces destroyed an enemy fleet. Normally I wouldn't be discussing this with you, since it has nothing to do with you, but the report I received mentioned one, tiny detail that left me perplexed. You see, the report mentioned that someone known as Raven participated in the battle. Also, this Raven seemed to possess a machine unlike anything we have ever seen. Do you know something about this?"

Gabriel shifted nervously in his chair. When he finally spoke his voice was filled with shame, as if he was talking about some sort of disgrace. "This is indeed a very unpleasant question and I would prefer if we didn't have to talk about those people so soon."

"So you know something?"

"Yes … Yes, I do. You see, sir, they are a group of people usually hired to do some kind of a specific task. In short, Ravens are mercenaries in every sense of the word. Most of them do not side with any of the corporations and are available for anyone to hire. Therefore it seems that someone hired one of them to help your forces in that battle."

"You're telling me that someone hired them only a few days after you all arrived?" Siegel shook his head incredulously. "Pardon me, but it sounds very far fetched."

"No offense, sir, but you obviously have no idea about how they operate." Gabriel replied. "Ravens are almost impossible to predict. As I mentioned already, most Ravens prefer to work for certain corporations, which makes them more or less predictable." Gabriel looked directly in Siegel's eyes and saw another question in them. "I understand your concern, but rest assured that Ravens aren't a bunch of loose cannons, if you don't mind me using the term. They are controlled by an organization known as Global Cortex, which acts as the middleman between Ravens and their clients. All their actions are coordinated by this organization and everyone who disobeys them is severely punished." Gabriel was about to say more when a sudden thought occurred to him. He almost opened his mouth but controlled himself in the last moment.

Nine times out of ten, Ravens were hired by corporations or extremely wealthy individuals. After all, their services didn't come cheap. That left only Crest, Kisaragi and Mirage as the possible clients , since everyone rich enough to hire a Raven on their own had joined one of the corporations a long time ago. Still, it didn't make any sense. Why would any one of the corporations hire a Raven to attack their potential allies? It went completely against common sense. He would have told Siegel that, but there was another possibility. There was always the chance that Global Cortex had made a move on its own and formed a contract with someone in ZAFT. But why? Why would an organization, priding itself for its ability to remain completely neutral, would make a deal, which made no income at all, since he doubted that someone would pay a huge amount of money to a completely unknown organization.

Gabriel searched his mind for an answer and it surprised him how easily he realized it. Advertisement. It was so obvious it almost felt embarrassing. Global Cortex sought money just like any other organization would. With their arrival at Earth they gained more potential costumers. Costumers that had to be convinced that Global Cortex had something good to offer. All that remained was to show everyone how good your product was. And how could an organization, providing the unique services of Ravens, get its point across? The answer was simple, the most sensible thing to do was to send one of their Ravens, preferably one of their best, to show the entire world what they got to offer. By doing so they killed a lot of birds with one stone. For starters, a lot of people knew what a Raven was capable of. In some cases it also showed how Earth's technology compared against Utopia's. It also made everyone realize that since corporations were from the same place as these Ravens, it would be a sensible thing to make some new friends. Amazingly, Global Cortex had increased the chances of all three corporations to find support among the superpowers of Earth.

"I'll try to find out more about this if you want, sir. However, I don't think that there will be much to find out. Clients' identities are always kept secret, to prevent any retaliatory actions. On a side note Kisaragi has formed relations with several, very capable Ravens and as a part of our cooperation we would be willing to extend their services to PLANTs." Gabriel offered another reason to join forces.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to trust someone who fights for money." Siegel couldn't hold back his dislike for such loose allegiances, but at the same time the thought of sending someone perfectly willing to take care of something dangerous, instead of risking with the lives of ordinary soldiers, did have some appeal. "There's also the risk of betrayal and that is something I can't accept."

"I can sympathize with your worries, but you must understand that Ravens are different from more questionable individuals. They do have several, very strict rules to follow, namely the contract with the client. While I realize that trusting a piece of paper might be a mistake in most cases, I can assure you, ever since the whole contract deal was established more than ten years ago, not a single Raven has broken a contract without confirming it with the client. Afterwards, the client was freed from all expenses and didn't have to pay single coin."

"You make them sound like businessmen."

"Well, for the lack of a better word, they are. They simply deal with a different kind of business."

xxxxx

"What are we going to do now? The Archangel is stuck in the middle of a desert, probably in the middle of enemy territory. I don't know about you, but I think we're in trouble." Kuzzey looked at everyone sitting at the table. They all shared similarly concerned expressions as they assessed the situation they were in.

"How can we be sure we're in enemy territory?" Daniel arched his eyebrows. "I mean, yeah, we're in the middle of nowhere, but Africa is a big place. We could have landed somewhere near Victoria. I bet, they're already out looking for us." He glared at Sai who shook his head in disagreement.

"Daniel, I saw the maps. We're in North Africa, which has been under ZAFT control pretty much for the entire war. As for Victoria, ZAFT has been attacking it several times already and judging from the fact that all our calls Victoria have gone unanswered, I believe that EA has lost the base."

"Wait a minute, doesn't that mean they can somehow trace our messages and pinpoint our location?" Daniel was suddenly very worried. He looked at others and was his nervousness increased when Miriallia and Tolle nodded in silent agreement.

"That's one of the reason we ceased all communications attempts." Sai replied, while chewing on the last of his salad. Daniel stared at him with genuine fear.

"You … you mean that there really is a chance of us being found out and getting swarmed by thousands of Mobile Suits?" He gulped audibly. "Why aren't we running away then?"

"Calm down, Daniel. There is no way ZAFT is going to find us out here. Like you said, Africa is a big place, it will hard for them to find us." Miriallia giggled at Daniel's facial expression. It looked like the boy was expecting ZAFT Mobile Suits appear out of thin air right in the middle of the cafeteria.

"And if that wasn't enough, there are a lot of N-jammers around here." Tolle carried on, also completely calm. "Not only does it makes the use of long range detectors impossible, but communications are hindered as well. Besides, we can't go anywhere until the engines are repaired." Kuzzey gave him a puzzled look.

"Engines? What happened?"

"I don't know exactly, but I overheard a report to the Captain saying that the landing wasn't smooth enough and something was broken."

"We're not stranded aren't we?"

"No, we're not. We can still move, but only for short distances. But apparently they will have it fixed soon enough."

"That's good news." Daniel breathed in relief and rested his head on the table after pushing the food tray aside. Miriallia looked at him reprovingly.

"Don't do that. It's not polite. Especially if others are still eating."

"I'm an experienced pilot of the Earth Alliance forces, who has shot down several enemy Mobile Suits and assisted in the destruction of a Laurasia class battleship. Therefore I believe that I am allowed to bend the rules of etiquette." Daniel declared in a formal voice, not even bothering to move his head.

"I think the reentry heat has finally caught up to him." Tolle whispered to Miriallia, both sharing a short laugh. Kuzzey looked at Daniel next to him and looked almost thoughtful.

"I still can't believe how Kira was able to survive reentry on his own. You heard what the doctor said, a Natural would have died from the heat."

"Well, he is a Coordinator. We all know that they can do things we can't." Sai added slowly. He glanced at Daniel who didn't move a muscle, but Sai knew perfectly well that he was listening, so he had to be careful with his words. They all knew about the ceasefire between Kira and Daniel, since Kira had told them the same day the said ceasefire was called. Although everyone was happy to see at least one problem partially solved, they understood that the issue was still alive. Buried somewhere deep and out of sight, but alive nonetheless and they had to be careful not to bring it back up, especially since everything looked to be going on so well between the two.

"Yeah, yeah. Stronger bodies, immunity to diseases, mind capable of absorbing knowledge at much faster rate, I've heard it all. Didn't helped them a lot though." Daniel finally raised his head to stare at them with a smug grin. "I mean I've already shot down three of those so-called superior bastards. They didn't look so tough to me. Look at Kira, a mere reentry is enough to put him in a sickbay with a fever."

"Yeah. Sure. Never mind the fact that you were shielded by the Archangel and everyone heard you praying over the comm." Miriallia shot back with a grin of her own. Daniel waved it off.

"Details, details, who cares about those? The point is I'm still standing while Kira's lying in the sickbay."

"Actually he's not in the sickbay anymore." Sai intervened, fighting for a straight face just like anyone else. "He woke up this morning and the doctor said it was okay for him to return to his room. Flay said that he was completely fine, just tired, so she took Kira's meal to his room." He barely managed to finish his sentence when the cafeteria doors hissed open, allowing entrance to Flay. The girl held a pair of empty food trays and seemed to be thinking about something.

"Flay." Miriallia called when she saw the red haired girl. "How's Kira?"

"He seems to be back to normal. He even ate a full meal." She walked towards the counter. "Last night's commotion all seems like a dream. The doctor told him to rest for the day, though. I guess his body really is made differently from ours." Everyone shared a confused look.

"I see." Miriallia was slightly taken aback, but she quickly regained herself. "But it's good that he's all well again."

"Flay, you must be tired too, after all you spent the entire last night at Kira's side. Shouldn't you rest a little?" Sai suggested, but the girl shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. I ate my meal together with Kira." Flay approached the water dispenser and filled a pair of glasses. "Besides it's not like I have other duties like the rest of you … We need Kira to get well soon. If not he won't be able to pilot that Mobile Suit." She added quietly in a slightly obsessed voice as if she was talking to herself.

Everyone looked at each other once again, but this time the confusion was replaced by a growing concern. Something was wrong. "Umm, Flay..." Sai began, but Flay ignored him.

"I'm really worried about Kira, so I'll go check on him again real quick." Flay placed both glasses on the tray and headed towards the doors.

"Flay, wait a moment." Sai jumped up and went after her. "Flay."

"What!?" The girl snapped aggressively and turned around to face Sai, who, like everyone else, was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Er, well..."

"Sai. There's something I want to tell you." Flay's voice turned back to normal. But the way she spoke told everyone that she had something very unpleasant to say. "Our marriage arrangement was made by my father ... Since he is no longer alive ..." Her voice trembled a little, but she forced herself to remain calm. "I think the agreement doesn't mean anything anymore ... Especially since it was only at the "possibility" stage, therefore I don't think we should feel bound to it." She said with a smile that was supposed to look comforting, but it was obvious to everyone that the smile was nothing more than a mask.

Sai stared at her as if he was seeing a ghost. His mind tried to come up with something to say, but he found himself unable to say anything. He barely managed to say the girl's name as she walked away, before his voice died in his throat. He didn't understand why Flay had done that. Much less without any explanations or revealing any reasons. She had dumped him just like that. Completely out of the blue. "Flay..." He tried to demand an explanation, but nothing more crossed his lips. He couldn't do anything besides to stare at his now former fiancée.

She continued her path towards Kira's room, not paying even the slightest attention to the person behind her. For now, Flay's entire world revolved around making Kira suffer for his father's death. He had to kill them. Everyone. Every one of those monsters who had taken away everything from her. She knew she couldn't do anything to avenge her father's death. However, Kira could. Flay decided then and there to make sure that Kira would be her weapon of vengeance. He would be her tool that would make them pay. But it wasn't enough. She needed more before her revenge was complete. She wanted Kira to suffer as well. Kira had told her that he would protect her father, but he didn't. He lied! He made an empty promise. Instead of protecting her father, Kira had focused on his friend. Not to kill, but to talk to the one who piloted the Aegis. For that he had to pay as well. "That's right." She muttered to herself. "Even if he kills every one of them, it won't be enough to atone for his lies … He must fight, fight, fight and wen they are all dead … he must die. I can't forgive him otherwise."


	16. Hunting ground

"So that's the famous Archangel, huh? One that even Le Creuset couldn't bring down?" Andrew Waltfield studied the silent ship, resting among the sandy dunes of the Sahara desert. The ship had arrived on the previous day and hadn't moved ever since. This gave Waltfield more than enough time to scout the nearby area and set up a small field camp from which to direct his attack. He was more than eager to see for himself what the Archangel and its defenders were capable of. Not only this gave him a chance to succeed where Le Creuset had failed, but to gather some interesting data about the two machines that were supposed to be aboard the ship. "However, I'm wondering if their escape is a testimony of their skills or pure luck." He swirled the cup of coffee he held in his hand.

"Sir, I think you need more than just luck to escape from someone like Commander Le Creuset." Martin DaCosta, Waltfield's aide, said not moving even the slightest as he lay on the ground, observing the Archangel trough his binoculars, while his Commander stood behind him.

"Then I guess we will find out how lucky and skillful they are." Waltfield shrugged lightly and smelled the coffee, savoring the aroma. "It's strange, however, for all that reputation it seems that they're all asleep. They should have at least sent someone outside to scout the area." He swung his gaze to the sides, checking out the surrounding desert for himself. "But I guess they're feeling safe from any detection with all the N-jammers scattered in this area." Indeed, with all this interference, the Archangel was safe from any scans they might perform. If it wasn't for one of his soldiers actually seeing the ship's descent, they would probably be still out looking for it. He smirked at that thought. It turned out that in this case they were the lucky ones. Still smiling, he took a sip from the mug and let out s surprised grunt.

"What? What's wrong?!" DaCosta turned his head to regard him with a slightly worried look.

"Hmm … putting in five percent less mocha wasn't such a bad idea." Waltfield looked at the coffee mug, ignoring DaCosta's incredulous stare. "It tastes pretty good." He took another sip and turned around to head back to the field camp.

DaCosta sighed abjectly and got up to follow him. Sometimes there was no understanding Andrew Waltfield. The man was an excellent Commander, one of the best ZAFT could offer. He had proved this during the Suez Battle, which had earned him several awards and had placed him in charge of ZAFT operations in North Africa. However, his military genius was also matched by his eccentricity when it came to something as simple as coffee or chain of command. Sometimes he wondered if all great commanders had some peculiarities. Maybe these oddities were the reason for their skills? Sort of a price or a condition that came with a talent. Still, he felt nothing but the utmost respect for Commander Waltfield. It was an honor to serve him. And if it meant that DaCosta had to put up with some unusual characteristics in his Commander, so what? It actually made for an interesting day.

Andrew Waltfield half-walked, half-slid down the dune to the field camp, consisting of nothing more than a few tents. Absentmindedly tossing the empty cup over his shoulder, where it was barely caught by DaCosta, the Commander moved over to his soldiers and pilots, standing in the shadow of several combat Agile attack helicopters and Waltfield's favorite Mobile Suits, the BuCues. In the desert, BuCues had few, if any, adversaries since its mobility and speed was just as good a weapons as the linear cannons or missiles they carried. Waltfield felt a vulturous grin split his face. _Let's see how those two fare against these beauties. _He watched the pilots stand upright as he approached them and nodded in recognition. They were good pilots. Just what this mission required. "Listen up! We'll be starting our operation against the Archangel in a few minutes. Remember that the goal is to gather combat data about the Strike and the Mantis."

"Sir, will it be alright if we destroy them?" One of the pilots asked, summoning several chuckles from his comrades.

"The original mission objectives don't require it, but if you can't avoid it … I'll understand." Waltfield smirked as well. "We'll do it when the time comes … Be careful though." A thoughtful tone tinted his voice. "Even Le Creuset couldn't finish them off. On top of that Admiral Halberton's 8th Fleet sacrificed themselves to send this ship down to the surface. Keep that in mind." The chuckles and whispers slowly died down as everyone realized that this wasn't a foe best taken lightly. Waltfield looked them over again. They were concentrating on the battle. Good. "Well then, I wish you all success and I expect all of you to return." He returned the salute pilots gave him and nodded to DaCosta to take over.

"All pilots, board units." The young officer commanded and followed Waltfield to the command jeep.

With a slight grunt the Desert Tiger sat in the jeep, waiting for DaCosta to take the driver's seat and take them both to an observation post he'd spotted earlier. "Well the coffee was alright. Now let's go and have a proper war." He commented, watching the Mobile Suits come to life, filling the camp with clouds of dust as they headed towards the target.

xxxxx

Daniel's mind went completely blank when Lacus leaned closer and kissed him. The fierce kiss burning his lips as the girl stepped closer, intensifying the kiss. With his base instincts kicking in, Daniel replied and slid his arms around Lacus's body. While his tongue vied for dominance, his hands began questing across the girl's back, exploring her figure as much as he could. The white nightgown she was wearing did make things a little difficult, but for Daniel it didn't matter. He had a girl in his arms! The flimsy garment only added to his excitement, revealing and at the same time hiding Lacus's body from his hands.

With a slight moan of pleasure Lacus broke their kiss as Daniel's hands reached her hips. "Mmm, Daniel, you're getting a little impatient, aren't you?" She giggled and looked him in the eyes in such a way that made Daniel feel like ripping off that damned piece of clothing in that very second. However, he held himself together. The first time was supposed to be gentle and enjoyable to both of them. Therefore he just began moving his hands back up again, enjoying the feel of the narrow waist as he made his way to his main targets.

"When doing it with a girl like you, it's impossible to stay calm." Daniel whispered, his heart beating faster and faster. He stopped his movement to slowly run his hand trough the pink hair, flowing across Lacus's shoulders and back. "So smooth, just like your skin." He grinned and tickled her sides with his other hand. The girl giggled again, something that sent pleasant shivers across Daniel's back and took a step back.

"Now, close your eyes and don't peek." Lacus winked as she reached for one of the shoulder straps. Eager to play along, Daniel did as he was told and soon heard something soft fall on the ground. He almost cracked one eye open, but suddenly felt a warm embrace as Lacus hugged him and touched his lips with her own. With a slight push, Lacus pushed them both in the bed behind Daniel, ending up lying on top of him.

"Whoa! You scared me!" Despite his efforts he couldn't keep his eyes closed, especially when he felt Lacus pull out of his embrace as she straddled him. In a situation like this, it was too much for him. He HAD to see her. He opened his eyes, but before he could spot anything, Lacus began pulling off his shirt, obscuring entirety of his view as the piece of clothing was pulled over his head.

"Oh, my." He heard Lacus's awed voice and felt her warm body press against his as she began planting small butterfly kisses on his neck and slowly moving lower. With a ecstatic gasp Daniel looked down at her, only to meet Lacus's eyes staring back at him mischievously as she continued to work her way towards his waist. Daniel felt a slight sting of irritation, since he couldn't see anything more of Lacus's body, her hair exposing only her pale shoulders, arms and that beautiful face.

His train of thoughts broke when Lacus's arms began moving across his muscled chest, trailing the path of the kisses she'd left, further down across his iron-hard abs and stopping at the brim of his boxers. Lacus looked back at him and smiled seductively. "You want it?"

"Y-yes … Yes I fucking want that!" Daniel breathed, barely able to thing about what was going to happen.

"Good answer. And you know what happens to good boys?" Lacus winked again. Suddenly she rolled her eyes and yelled. "Level 2 Battle Alert! All personnel to your stations!"

"Wha..." Daniel's eyes flew open in the mixture of confusion and anger. He looked around and realization gradually kicked in. "Oh, FUCK!" He cursed when he realized that he was lying in his bed in his new officer's quarters. "Fuck, no! No! No! NO!" Daniel sat up and ruffled his hair in anger. It was just a fucking dream. He removed the cover and looked down. Yep, it was definitely a dream. The huge, iron-hard muscles were replaced with something smooth and soft.

Still mumbling about how unfair life was, he realized that the alarms were still working. The repeated announcement echoing throughout the entire ship with regular intervals. "I guess this is not a dream either." Daniel muttered and began thinking about how the hell he was supposed to sleep in this noise. Then it hit him. Like a cold shower to his mind, which removed every last trail of sleep from his mind. The ship was under attack! For real! He had to do something!

Without hesitation he jumped out of the bed and began searching for his clothes in the dark room. He had managed to find his pants and shirt when the entire ship trembled. "Oh, fuck this, I don't have time to get dressed." He jumped barefoot in his shoes, realizing with a wince that he had them mixed up, stuffed the socks in his pockets and slung the jacket over his shoulder. Now that he realized, getting dressed was a waste of time. He'd be removing most of his clothes anyway so that he could put on the jumpsuit. The clothes had to make his appearance modest enough until he got to the changing room. Therefore he wasted no time and bolted for the door. He left his room at the same time; the person responsible for the alarm turned it off. The following silence was practically deafening in its own way. The sudden quiet confused Daniel and left him standing in the middle of the hallway, trying to figure out where exactly the changing room was.

With a hiss, the doors to the room opposite Daniel's slid open allowing a very determined looking Kira, properly dressed in his uniform, to leave the room. Without bothering to look at Daniel, Kira ran towards the changing room, his memory working perfectly fine. Daniel stood there only for a second until he realized that Kira had the same destination as him and it would be a good idea to follow the brown haired boy. However, before he could move from his spot, Daniel caught something out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or something else, but for a moment he thought that he had seen movement inside Kira's room, but before he could get a better look, the doors closed, interrupting his inspection. With a shake of his head, Daniel dismissed the unnecessary thoughts and took off after Kira.

xxxxx

Murrue narrowed her eyes when bright explosions bathed the bridge in a bright light for a few seconds. The echoes rolled throughout the ship, accompanied by a series of strong vibrations. _Probably anti-ship missiles_. Murrue noted and took her place on the bridge. "What's the situation? Where is the attack coming from?"

"The first wave consisted of six missiles, but we managed to intercept them with our point defenses."

"It's probably a long range attack, I'm sure they're hiding behind the dunes in order to conceal their positions."

"What's the status of our engines?" Murrue listened to the reports and began formulating a combat strategy that would help them get out of this mess.

"The engines are repaired, but it will take some time before we can use the main engines." Murrue bit her lip. Without the main engines they were stranded and practically immobile. A sitting duck for whoever was attacking them.

"Fire up the auxiliary engines, try to move us out of this position if you can. Level 1 Battle Alert!" Murrue ordered in a steely voice. "First Lieutenant Flaga and Lieutenants Yamato and Stokes will standby in their units!"

Underneath her, Natarle and the rest of the CIC officers responded to the recently increases combat status by bringing the Archangel's weapons and combat systems on-line. "Activate the ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) and ECCM (Electronic Counter-countermeasures) systems! Load the anti-beam missiles! Find out where those missiles are coming from and search the nearby area for enemies!"

It was about time, since they barely managed to start searching for any hostiles, when the enemy revealed themselves. Several Agile gunships rose over a particularly high dune and fired their missiles before hiding behind the dunes. The handful of missiles were taken out before they could pose any danger to the ship, but neither did the Archangel's weapons managed firing back. "Three ZAFT attack choppers identified." A nervous reply came a bit too late. "It's hard to target them with our weapons; they're using the dunes as cover."

"Try to shoot them down anyway!" Natarle replied tensely. "And keep searching for more enemies. ZAFT is sure to have more forces out here." She was struggling to think of what else ZAFT could throw at them. The three gunships were dangerous, but they weren't deadly. They were too lightly armed to deal with a target like the Archangel. The missiles they carried were intended for use against armored ground vehicles like tanks. It would take far too many missiles they had in order to blow a hole in the warship's heavy armor. Their best bet was to target sensor emplacements or weapons themselves. Something which was very unlikely to happen. However, there was a problem with those long range, anti-ship missiles they've intercepted earlier. Agiles weren't capable of carrying missiles that big. Therefore, it meant that there was something else out there. Something big.

Natarle gritted her teeth. The whole situation frustrated her so much that it was getting harder to think. There were just too many unknowns. She was perfectly aware that this was merely a probing attack. ZAFT were testing them so that they could figure out how to finish off the Archangel more quickly. If she had even a tiny bit of information about the ZAFT forces she could try to come up with a plan to at least prepare for the main attack, if not work out a strategy to neutralize the threat completely. "What about First Lieutenant Flaga? How long until he can launch?" Her idea was to get the Skygrasper into air to do a recon sweep of the area and find out where those missiles had come from. Of course that was the original idea, but fate intervened once again. A video comm screen appeared on Miriallia's display, showing Kira already inside the Strike's cockpit and ready to go.

"Where's the enemy!? I'm ready to go out." Kira's voice was uncharacteristically pushy.

"Kira, wait we'r..."

"Hurry up already!" Kira impatiently cut off Miriallia's objections. "Open the hatch!" Natarle glared at the display. Something was wrong with the usually calm and silent boy.

"We haven't found the enemy's location and their combat capabilities. Wait until we give the permission to launch."

"It doesn't mean anything! If the ship gets destroyed it's over! I'll have to launch either way, so open the damned hatch already!" Kira snapped indignantly and even glared back at the two females. "I'll go out and take care of those bastards!"

"Captain!" Natarle began, but Murrue had already noticed the commotion in the CIC section of the bridge.

"Fine! I don't know what's gotten into him, but Kira's right. Archangel alone can't do much in this situation. We have to let him out. What's the status on the Pulverizer? Is Daniel ready to go?" She added a moment later.

"Um, yes. They're both ready to launch." Mirrialia added after a brief check. Most of her attention was on Kira though. She hadn't seen him so impatient before. Something must have happened to him. Some part of her mind wondered whether it had something to do with Kira's recovery from the fever or maybe it was something else.

Meanwhile Natarle relayed the orders to Kira and Daniel. "Lieutenant Yamato, Stokes you two have permission to launch. Concentrate your efforts on taking out those gunships, but don't get far away from the ship. We don't know what we're up against."

xxxxx

By the time the Archangel launched the Strike and the Pulverizer, the three gunships were nowhere in sight. The trio of attackers had concealed themselves behind the dunes as soon as the ship displayed the first signs of the imminent launch. Not only hiding from their enemies did the ZAFT pilots gained the element of surprise, but they increased their chances of survival as well. Agile gunships weren't known for their lethality. Even though being piloted by Coordinators, these choppers were often at a disadvantage when pitted against the Earth Alliance's more superior aircraft. Basically Agiles were more suited for patrols or anti-infantry duties.

However, even without them Kira and Daniel had problems of their own. Used to fighting in zero gravity environment, they were caught off guard when they realized that their machines weren't gently descending, but actually plummeting towards the ground, the gravitational pull adding more speed to their fall than they would have found comfortable. During the few seconds they had before their machines would hit the ground, both pilots took similar actions, namely tried to soften the inevitable landing. Both achieved different results.

The Strike, lacking powerful thrusters and already weighed down by the heavy Launcher Striker, landed to hard and collapsed to the ground face first when the loose sand shifted and moved under the pressure. The Pulverizer fared better. Unleashing a powerful flare of blue light, the machine kicked up a huge cloud of dust as it came in for a landing. The boost provided enough in the way of breaking the fall and allowed the Pulverizer to land much softer and without falling down. Its feet slipping only a little before the Muscle Tracing system corrected and adjusted the surface pressure.

Growling from the unpleasant deployment Kira brought the Strike back up to its feet, or at least he tried to. As soon as the machine was standing on its feet, the ground moved again and caused the Strike to fall back down. "What's wrong with you?" Daniel's not so concerned voice only increased Kira's frustration. "Get up already!"

"I'm trying! Damn it!" Kira brought the Strike up on one knee. He wasn't standing, but it was a hell of a lot better than lying on the ground.

Further efforts were interrupted when the three gunships rose over the dune in front of them and fired their missiles. Before any of the two pilots could react the attack helicopters dived into cover again. "Missiles!" Daniel yelled and jumped to the side, his machine moving just the same as it would move on a perfectly flat and solid ground. Kira didn't have a luxury of such fluid movement for now and was forced to fire off a short burst of CIWS fire before receiving a missile to the chest, which sent him sprawling on the ground, while the second missile merely struck the ground besides him. In the mean time Daniel had managed to shoot down all three missiles aimed at him with the advanced defense system the Pulverizer sported.

xxxxx

Daniel threw a quick glance at the Strike as it tried to get up again and felt a wide grin appearing on his face. So the mighty Coordinator wasn't so mighty after all. Another pleasant revelation he could treasure. Ever since Heliopolis, he had realized that Kira was definitely a better pilot than he was. It was made even more obvious when he had fought off Duel and Blitz just before the rendezvous with the 8th Fleet. And even though he had sort of made up with Kira regarding the Coordinator problem. He still felt slight animosity towards the brown haired boy. This, coupled with his general dislike for Coordinators made little wonder that he was glad to see Kira experience some difficulties. _Yeah, you're not tough after all._ Daniel widened his grin and turned his attention towards the dune the ZAFT choppers were using as cover. He was about to use the plasma cannons to blast the dune when an unexpected event wiped the grin off his face.

A sudden, massive power spike from the generator set off every alarm regarding the heat levels and cooling system's performance. For a fraction of a second the generator produced almost twice the power it was capable of producing. Fortunately the cooling system was capable of quickly bringing the heat down to more usual levels, having been designed to cool the reactor without having to work at maximum output. A safety measure if the heat management system would ever be damaged or if the Pulverizer was exposed to massive heat levels from outside. If not for the safety procedures, the Pulverizer's fusion reactor would have probably detonated with a force that would make a nuclear meltdown look like an explosion made by a firecracker. Destroying the Archangel, Strike and everything else nearby in the process. Instead, the Pulverizer was once again left without any weapons, long range sensors and communications.

"What the fuck?" Daniel muttered, staring perplexedly at the displays, most of the filled with red-toned reports. "What just happened?" He took a few steps toward the Archangel, more than slightly confused about the sudden occurrence.

"Daniel, what happened to you? Are you okay? Did you get hit?" Mirrialia's voice came trough the still functioning short range comms. Her concern was caused by the sudden heat spike on the Archangel's thermal sensors and a near total loss of the Pulverizer's signal that followed.

"Something happened! I lost power! Just like…" His words died in his throat when several BuCues jumped into everyone's view, firing a mixture of railgun rounds and missiles. The yellow projectiles missed, having been poorly aimed and intended to simply take the opponents off balance. The missiles were a different story. Since they were fired in such tight clusters, some of them collided with each other during their flight towards the two targets. The following detonations further reduced the amount of missiles, but they still remained as a threat.

xxxxx

Firing the Agni cannon in the largest group and wiping out the remaining ones, Kira turned the still kneeling Strike to take a shot at the Mobile Suits, but no matter how he tried, the damned machines moved too fast. That didn't stop him from firing anyway, sowing destruction on the surrounding desert as he tried to score a hit. Fruitlessly. If they weren't hiding behind the dunes, then they simply waded around the hyper impulse beams. The BuCues had the advantage of speed and they were using it to the fullest.

Seeing that his attacks were useless, Kira ordered the Strike into a jump to get a better firing position, but in doing so, he presented himself as an excellent target to one of the BuCues. The ZAFT pilot didn't hesitate to shoot the Strike out of the skies with his railguns. Lacking the agility provided by Aile Striker Pack, the Strike was easy to hit. "Damn!" Kira managed when the powerful impact sent his Mobile Suit falling to the ground again. This time in a less controlled fashion. The landing rattled every bone in his body, despite this, Kira was struggling to stand up the second he got hold of the controls. The urge to protect the Archangel forced him to ignore the pain and dizziness caused by the landing.

xxxxx

Since the Pulverizer was relatively cold when the power spike came, the combat systems were brought back online in less than a minute. This allowed Daniel to take a more active part in the battle, though he kept eyeing the power output cautiously. Even now he could see the energy gauge jumping slightly in response to the random power spikes that plagued the generator. Fortunately they weren't big enough to cause another shut down, but Daniel wasn't stupid. He knew that sooner or later it would happen again and while he had no idea what was going on, he kept in mind the fact that his machine could shut down any minute. Why this was happening he had no idea, and currently he didn't have the time to look for an answer. Right now he had a battle to fight.

Runing towards the downed Strike, the Pulverizer fired a few plasma bolts to keep the BuCues away. "You okay?" He asked with much more worry in his voice. Both of them were half disabled, which cut their chances of survival practically in half. They had to stay close to each other if they wanted even a chance of winning.

"If I could just stand." Kira grunted and snapped off a shot at a nearby Mobile Suit and cursing up a storm when the Strike stumbled, causing the shot to miss. "I would tear these guys apart." Daniel didn't answer, he was busy diving out of the way of more missiles and railgun shots when three BuCues charged their position, obviously trying to separate both machines. One of the rounds hit the Pulverizer in the left shoulder, but due to the angle of attack and the sloped armor the projectile pinged off and disappeared into the starry skies.

xxxxx

Firing off a flurry of shots in the middle of a jump, Kira managed to finally land a hit. The reddish beam took off the missile pack of one of the three BuCues that had tried to separate them. While the Mobile Suit wasn't destroyed, it was certainly less dangerous. Before he could finish it off, he took another railgun round to the chest, but this time he managed to compensate for it and landed more softly. Kira spared little time sitting in place and jumped again, this time scattering the second trio of BuCues, who looked like they'd been moving to finish off the unwary Pulverizer who was currently busy with the gunships that had decided to help their Mobile Suits.

With a sharp breath, he dodged a shot from one of the BuCues. The maneuver caused him to land on his side in the desert sand. He gritted his teeth as he felt his insides boiling in rage. No matter how much they tried, they wouldn't win if the fight kept going on like this. If he could only stand and be able to fight without jumping around like an idiot and exposing himself to counter-fire. If he could stand, he could fight. If he could fight, he could win. It was that simple. Quickly glancing around, Kira grabbed one of the maintenance keyboards and began working on the OS. _I just need to change the surface pressure distribution._ Kira typed in blinding speed, keeping an eye on the BuCues and piloting the Strike with his other hand. _Don't worry everyone. I'll save you._

xxxxx

"Fuck! No!" The alarms went off again, leaving Daniel completely unarmed as the safety measures kicked in to combat another particularly strong power spike. Just as he was about to blow one of the gunships out of the sky. He was fortunate though, the lock he'd established earlier scared off the closes gunship and bought him precious seconds. He threw a quick glance at the status screen. Fifty three seconds until he got his weapons back. Fifty three very long seconds, since he once again had to rely on running, jumping and lots of luck to keep him alive. When he looked back at the main screen, he had a painful feeling that his luck was running out. Fast.

"Awww hell!" Daniel saw the three BuCues charging at him, eager to take him out. "SHIT! HELP ME!" He yelled into the comm. system and turned around to make a run for it, yellow tracers already flashing past him. The Pulverizer's stride was no match for the quick movements of the pursuing Mobile Suits. The distance between them shortened too quickly. "HELP ME, DAMN IT!" He yelled again when he heard 30mm rounds explode against the Pulverizer's armor. A tribute from the Agiles. With their missiles spent they were trying to herd the fleeing machine towards the BuCues.

Pushing the pedals, and wishing for the boost that would never come, no mater how hard he tried, Daniel risked a glance back. The BuCues were practically on top of him, no more than twenty meters away. The three Mobile Suits, forming a wedge, as they blitzed towards him, leaving clouds of dust in their wake. The glowing eye camera and the pair of glowing head mounted beam sabers made a BuCue appear more like a hound from hell, than a man made machine, moving closer to tear the Pulverizer and Daniel to smoking, half-molten chunks. Unlike in space where the battles were eerily quiet, all sorts of unpleasant noises further fueled his fears. The clanking of the threads, thunderous missile explosions, crackling railgun discharges and the hiss of the beam sabers, all these sounds joined together into a cocktail that would have unnerved even an experienced soldier. For someone like Daniel it was overwhelming panic.

"Daniel, watch out! Incoming missiles!" Miriallia's warning disappeared among the series of explosions going off around the four machines. Half a dozen of Sledgehammer missiles struck the ground with force of the tool they were named after. Daniel lost sight of everything when the force of explosion literary threw the Pulverizer away, only to crash on its back several meters further away. In addition to the roar of the explosion Daniel heard and felt several impacts rattling his machine, but he was glad to hear that no alarm went off.

Still recovering from the blows, Daniel moved the Pulverizer into a sitting position. Drawing quick and shallow breaths, he looked around for the BuCues, but until the dust and smoke settled, his vision was very limited. Then the audio sensors picked up sounds of movement not too far from him. It sounded like something big and heavy trashing around on the ground, as if struggling to get up or move somewhere. With his heart practically jumping in his throat, Daniel realized that the enemy was still there. Too afraid to move, he scanned the area and gasped when the dusty curtain cleared enough to see one of the BuCues. He couldn't hold back a frightened yelp upon discovering that one BuCue was right next to him.

The high speed Mobile Suit was badly damaged. Surrounded by burning pieces of the Sledgehammer missiles and part of its armor, the machine was lying on right side. The back mounted railguns were gone. Torn off in the explosion and scattered across the nearby area, torn into dozens of pieces. The rear, left leg was also blown off; a short, ragged stump was all that remained of the limb. The other left leg was still in place, but it was also damaged beyond use. Upon closer look, the entire left side looked like it had been worked over by an army of vengeful mechanics wielding sledgehammers and blowtorches. Despite this, the BuCue was still functional, its pilot already trying to bring his machine into a more appropriate position.

xxxxx

"Hmm, that was something I didn't expect." Waltfield commented the reckless missile barrage with a great deal of surprise in his voice. "Firing at one of their own." He searched for any signs of movement in the already settling smoke cover. He hadn't seen any additional explosions that would have indicated a Mobile Suit being destroyed, so there was a fair chance that his pilots were still alive. It also meant that the Mantis was whole as well, but he wasn't worried about that. From the start of the battle up until the unorthodox support from the Archangel, the Mantis had displayed very little skill. Its pilot mostly owed his survival to pure luck or the timely intervention of his allies. Despite this, the Mantis itself was a very interesting machine, one which made him make some conclusions.

As one of ZAFT's top Commanders, Waltfield had also been informed about the recent events in space. The arrival of Circ-City, the following meetings and the recent demise of the 8th Fleet. These events made several people, including Waltfield, draw connections between the arrivals and the Mantis. It certainly wasn't that much of a stretch to think that the Mantis had arrived earlier and was somehow captured by the Alliance. Sure, there were some holes in the theory, such as how exactly the EA had managed to capture it, or what was the reason of sending it in the first place?

The Mantis, as well as the machine responsible for taking out most of the 8th Fleet, offered a rather unnerving insight in Utopian, Waltfield couldn't hold back a short laugh whenever he heard the official name of the arrival's nationality or whatever it was, technology level. If the reports, stating that the Mantis's pilot was believed to be a Natural, were true, then the machine had to possess a very advanced control system, since it moved just like a Mobile Suit piloted by a Coordinator. There was also the instantaneous adaptation to the desert terrain to consider. And these were just tips of the iceberg. There was no telling what kind of other surprises they had in store. Waltfield slowly shook his head, these Utopians were dangerous people.

A bright flash, visible even trough the dust cloud brought him out of the reflection. Barely a second later came the unmistakable sound of a Mobile Suit being blown apart. Waltfield's hopes of it being the Mantis were dismissed when the Mantis emerged from the smoke, riding a blue pillar of light and finishing the jump almost one hundred meters further away from its starting position. "That was just one BuCue, where are the remaining two?" Waltfield got his answer when the said BuCues appeared from the smoke and shot towards the Mantis, who didn't waste any time making another jump towards the Archangel after dodging a pair of hastily aimed shots.

_What's he up to now? _Walftield frowned when he realized that the Mantis was using its weapons and movement systems. _None of it was working a moment ago. And judging by the fact that he was almost destroyed I doubt that he was just toying with us. _He continued to observe the light blue and copper brown machine, as it hastily made its way back to the ship. "I think something's wrong with the Mantis, it seems to be eager to return to the Archangel." Waltfield realized that he was thinking out loud. He saw the grounded ship open up with its CIWS to cover the Mantis's approach and felt a cold grin settle on his face. It was time to get some payback for the Mobile Suit they'd destroyed. "DaCosta. Contact the Lesseps. I want an artillery strike on that ship. It's about time we put an end to this party." He ordered his aide. As soon as he finished speaking another blast caught his attention. This time it came from the Strike's direction.

xxxxx

Just as the Strike was about to touch the ground, Kira realized that he was holding his breath. Even though he knew that his adjustments would work, there was a fair amount of pessimism inside him, but he tried his best to shrug it aside. There was no way of finding it out other than trying it for real. The Strike trembled lightly as it came into contact with the ground and almost immediately Kira noticed the lack of any unwanted movements. The feet weren't slipping, the ground wasn't shifting, and there wasn't a single one of the previous balance problems he had encountered before. With a great deal of relief Kira turned his full attention to the BuCues. It was time to strike back hard.

The alarms went off as Strike came under fire again. Two BuCues trying to pin him down while the third one, the one with the destroyed missile pack charged at the Strike to finish it with the beam sabers. Contrary to his previously cautious style, Kira wasted little time leaping towards the single Mobile Suit, while returning fire with the hyper impulse cannon. Once the Strike reached the ground, he leaped again, straight at the surprised enemy. With a loud clang the Strike landed right on the BuCue's back, pinning it to the ground. Not giving the enemy time to recover, Kira pulled the Strike into a jump, spun around and destroyed the recovering machine with a reddish beam blast from the Agni cannon.

"None of you will get to the Archangel!" Kira announced grimly as he intercepted a missile barrage aimed at him. Once the missiles were destroyed he used the 120mm gatling cannon to put up a dust cloud between him and one of the BuCues. With one enemy neutralized for the next few seconds, Kira changed targets and went after it. Now that he didn't have to worry about tripping Kira's mind was filled with steely resolve to destroy these enemies. He recalled the promise he had given not only to himself, but to his friends as well. "Don't worry. I'll protect you." He had also promised to protect her. The only person who seemed to be genuinely concerned about him. _I know it hurts Kira, I know it's hard for you. _Flay's words echoed in Kira's mind as he pursued the fleeing BuCue. _Whenever you're in pain, come to me. I'll help you. _Kira managed to land a short burst of the 120mm shells on the BuCue's hind legs, crippling the blue machine. After that it was only a matter of a single shot to put an end to its existence.

At the same time he pulled the trigger, he caught a glimpse of something headed towards the Archangel. He didn't have time to take a closer look, since the objects were gone the next moment and several large explosions went off around the Archangel. With a chilling feeling in his spine Kira realized that the ship was being attacked by artillery fire. Although the first shots had missed, the enemy would correct their aim and eventually the shells would hit their target. "No, I won't let you do that!" Kira yelled and towards the ship. He had no idea what to do against an attack like this, but all he knew was that he had to be close to the Archangel to protect it. To protect Flay. _My feelings will help you. They will protect you. Just like you are protecting me … by killing those who wish us harm. _Flay's words, combined with the irresistible urge to protect the Archangel swelled up into an intense pressure inside his mind and suddenly Kira felt like a dam had burst inside him. A purple jewel fell trough the darkness and struck an invisible surface, only to burst in blindingly bright light, which left everything clear as day.

A quick glance told him what he already suspected. Daniel was in no position to help him. Even though the Pulverizer was running towards the Archangel, just like he was, it was doing a lot more fleeing than running to help. The two BuCues following him only added more enemies for Kira to deal with. Another glance revealed the still operational gunships, also approaching the Archangel, although at a much slower rate. They presented little danger for now, but they would have to be dealt with eventually. For now, the Mobile Suits and the artillery barrages were the primary concerns.

Ordering the Strike into a full run, he entered the makeshift dust cover and a second later emerged on the other side, utterly surprising the last BuCue sent after him. Since both machines were too close for ranged attacks, the ZAFT Mobile Suit did the only logical thing. It leaped at him with both beam sabers glowing in readiness to bite into the Strike's hull. Kira, lacking any close combat weapons at the moment, was forced to improvise. He kicked out with the Strike's knee and landed a heavy strike on the BuCue's head. Just like before Kira used the moment when the BuCue was lying helpless on the ground to deliver the killing blow. This time it took the form of a heavy stomp that caved in the cockpit area. Seeing that the BuCue didn't move as he returned to the Archangel Kira assumed that the pilot was dead. Good. It meant fewer enemies endangering the Archangel.

A distant, thunderous echo made him look back, just in time to catch a glimpse of the second group of artillery shells. However, this time it was different. This time the shells were moving so slowly that Kira could not only see them, but take action as well. Bringing up the Agni cannon with such ease which surprised even him, Kira realized that he was trying to do something impossible. But all thoughts vanished when he calculated the trajectory, aimed the gun and fired. The hyper impulse beam crossed the path of two shells, blowing them apart in a stream of plasma. Two additional beams took out the remaining pair of shells.

Not paying any attention to the impossibility of the task he'd accomplished, Kira turned his attention to the last pair of BuCues. Coincidentally the two machines did the same since their target was standing next to the Archangel, with its back practically pressed against it and relying on the warship's heavy weapons for protection. Though not completely safe from attacks, the Pulverizer presented a difficult target to take out, whereas the Strike was standing alone and completely exposed.

Kira dropped the Strike to its knees, just as the BuCue's opened up with the back mounted railguns. The high velocity projectiles sailed over his Mobile Suit and eventually struck a distant dune, destroying it in a pillar of dust. Kira, still calm, despite being full of righteous anger, aimed and fired, carving up the area between the two BuCues and leaving them no choice, but to scatter. While the Mobile Suits took evasive maneuvers to dodge the shot which never came, Kira fired a long burst from the CIWS and blew apart one of the gunships, before turning his attention to the closest BuCue. Still kneeling on one knee, Kira aimed at the closest BuCue to pick it off.

xxxxx

"Order the Lesseps to cease fire." Waltfield commanded, his eyes practically fused with the binoculars. "Our forces are getting too close to the Archangel and there is a good chance that they might trace our position and return fire." He watched with amazement how the Strike managed to neutralize the artillery bombardment. "What the… shooting shells out of the skies? Is this some kind of a ninja movie?" Saying that it was unbelievable was an understatement. Impossible seemed like a more appropriate term. Shooting down shells was impossible. Not hard or difficult, but flat out impossible. It just didn't happen. Yet here he was, seeing it happen with his own eyes. "That coffee seems to be more potent than I thought." Waltfield blinked his eyes and continued the observation.

Ever since the moment when the Strike had been left relatively alone for a few seconds, the battle had changed dramatically. And even though Waltfield had expected some casualties to occur, the speed with which his Mobile Suits were destroyed chafed at him. In just a few moments ZAFT victory had been turned into an embarrassing defeat. All because of a single Natural who turned out to be a whiz at the Mobile Suit controls.

Waltfield thought again and dismissed that thought. That guy was no Natural. Unlike his friend in the Mantis, who looked like he was shitting his pants from fear, the Strike's pilot had quickly adapted to the battlefield and then proceeded to wreck havoc on his forces. Waltfield had fought Naturals long enough to realize their combat capabilities and limitations. Reprogramming a Mobile Suit's operating system in just a few minutes, while being attacked at the same time, wasn't something a Natural could do. Therefore he could safely cross the pilot out of the Natural pilot column. But if the Pilot wasn't a Natural, it could mean only one thing … But why would a Coordinator fight with Naturals against fellow Coordinators? The thought puzzled him, but not to the point where he lost his focus on the battle.

Waltfield glanced at his watch and grinned. "The Strike is certainly handled by a good pilot." He flattened his eyes against the binoculars again. "But no matter how good you are, there's not much you can do when your machine's power runs out. Which should be right about … now." His grin became even wider when he saw the Strike shake the Agni cannon when it apparently failed to fire. Moments like these were what he lived for. The part where his predictions came to life the very second he'd expected to. "Well, it has been a nice evening, but I'm afraid you'll have to go." Waltfield commented the scene before him. A separate Mobile Suit with low power against a pair of his BuCues.

xxxxx

"Wow, they really seem to be going at it with quite fervor. Of course I didn't expect them to hold out for so long." Another set of binoculars was fixed on the battle. "Oh, looks like they're done for … what!? Whoa! Look at that guy go! Why didn't he fight like that from the start?" The observer couldn't hold back a series of excited comments, which seemed to be more than a little out of the place when you realized that the people in question were involved in a desperate struggle. "One … Two, Mobile Suits down … What the fuck was that? … Did that guy just shot those shells out of the sky?" The binoculars almost cracked when the grip around them tightened to an almost inhuman level. "Do they really need our help?"

"It seems so, Major." A deep voice echoed somewhere from beneath. "According to our friends the Strike's power should run out any second now. Of course it's not much of a surprise when you consider how bad his aim was."

"It's the law of constant fire, Felix ... law of constant fire." The Major explained. "As long as you keep firing you're bound to hit something sooner or later … Anything from Sahib?"

"Nope, nothing."

"Damn! They're taking forever to get into position. I mean we've been sitting here for a day with nothing to do, but watch that guy set up his own forces. What the hell is…"

"We have a signal, ma'am." Felix interrupted the rant, not paying any attention to it. It was all part of the work. "They're in place and ready to go. We have the green light to kick off this party."

"Great. It's about time." The enthusiastic officer threw one last glance in the Archangel's direction. "Your fangs are becoming dull, Tiger." This time the voice was more matter-of-fact, than the previously playful one. With these words the Major's upper body sunk into the dark hull, accompanied with the sound of a hatch being closed behind her and followed by a roar of a hugely powerful engine as it prepared to move a machine far heavier than any BuCue in existence.

xxxxx

Time spent fighting against the Alliance forces in North Africa had taught Waltfield to quickly recognize several sounds. Tank engines being one of them. Therefore, when the roar of said engines echoed across the battlefield, he didn't waste any second wondering what that sound was. Instead his keen hearing detected that the sounds were coming from two directions on either side of him. He looked around to locate the threat, but he was spared from looking for them when he heard the distinctive crackle of linear cannons being fired. Afterwards it was easy to spot a pair of linear tanks clanking down a dune while their rounds sped towards the BuCues.

One BuCue was unlucky enough to catch a linear cannon slug right in the cockpit section, while the second slug tore off its head. Since it was traveling in a slightly downwards angle, it struck the slightly weaker section of the hull and punched entirely trough the Mobile Suit. The slug was traveling at such speed that it sucked the air out of the cockpit with such force that the pilot was torn out of his restraints and sucked out trough the exit hole, marking the path of the slug with a trail of small, bloody chunks.

Watching the fifth Mobile Suit fall to the enemy, Waltfield had a sinking feeling that his forces were in serious trouble. The enemy, most likely the Desert Dawn resistance group, had chosen a perfect moment to execute their attack. The entirety of his forces were near the Archangel, sitting in the middle of a somewhat bowl-shaped valley, surrounded by several large dunes. The very same ones he had been using to spring his trap. "DaCosta, we're retreating, I want that BuCue and those gunships out of there right now. We can't afford…" His voice died in his throat when a trio of tanks entered the battlefield. Two of them were the Pitbull MBTs, the mainstay of EA's tank forces before the linear cannons were adapted for tank use. Armed with a 120mm smoothbore cannon they presented a moderate threat at best. A Mobile Suit could take out several of them while experiencing little to no danger at all. It was the huge tank in the middle that made Waltfield clench his teeth in powerless frustration.

The Warchief heavy tank was probably the only machine in the Alliance's ground arsenal capable of instilling a slight amount of respect to the hotheaded Mobile Suit pilots. Weighing almost 83 tons and almost 18 meters long, the Warchief was twice the size of the Pitbulls next to it. The Warchief's turret housed two 155mm linear cannons and a pair of .50 caliber coaxial machineguns. Another pair of .50 caliber machineguns sat in a smaller, computer controlled turret on top of the tank, accompanied by two multiple role missile launchers, each capable of firing four missiles at the enemy. A fifth 7.62mm machinegun was mounted in the hull, allowing the driver to take a more direct part in the combat. Finally, four sets of six barreled grenade launchers were placed in strategic locations around the hull.

"So the rumors are true then. Those bastards really are fighting with the Desert Dawn." Waltfield studied the markings on the Warchief. He lowered his binoculars and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Damn it." He muttered a silent curse when he heard the last BuCue go up in flames. Despite the speed and much heavier weaponry, the Mobile Suit couldn't hold out for long on its own against five surrounding tanks and eventually fell as several linear cannon rounds tore it to pieces. The gunships tried to help their comrade on the ground, but since they were out of missiles all they had were the 30mm chainguns, which were woefully ineffective against the heavy armor. The final nail in ZAFT's coffin came when a dozen of jeeps swarmed their way over the dunes and unleashed a volley of missiles and RPGs at the gunships. With the BuCues gone, they had little to fear from the two helicopters and, as expected, the two choppers were eventually blown out of the sky. Especially when the Warchief added a portion of its own machineguns to the mix.

"Let's go. There's nothing else we can do here." He said with a sigh and turned his back on the Archangel. A small part of him cried out in anger and grief for the fallen pilots, but Waltfield held that part of him in an iron grip. Letting his emotions to break loose or influence his decisions would be unprofessional and counterproductive in the extreme. Instead he analyzed the facts. Not only had he underestimated the Archangel and its pilots, he had also neglected to do a more thorough search of the surrounding area, fearing that it might draw unwanted attention. As it had turned out, the Desert Dawn had beaten him in the race towards the Archangel and had used the time they had to prepare for him.

"It is said that professionals often become predictable." Waltfield recalled a saying he had heard somewhere as he and DaCosta walked back towards the jeep. "Then maybe it's time to do something unprofessional."

* * *

**A/N** - I know it's been a while since I've updated, but there are reasons for that. Not only did I have a serious case of you-know-what, but I had to do some research regarding fusion reactors and N-jammers.

The power spikes Daniel encountered in this chapter come from my opinion on how the N-jammers work. Since there isn't any official explanation about their workings, other than "blocking the movement of free neutrons", I had to come up with my own interpretation. Now, I'm sure that a lot of smart people out there will disagree with me and my explanation, but please bear with me. After all I'm the author and it is in my power to not only merge together two separate universes, but to bend the laws of physics as well.

So, N-jammers work by blocking the movement of free neutrons. This is achieved by increasing the strength of Nuclear Force which holds the damned neutron in place, namely keeping it attached to the plutonium or uranium atom. Therefore when the said atom is initially bombarded with free neutrons, the increased Nuclear Force prevents the creation of more free neutrons, which in turn prevents the chain reaction taking place.

In case of fusion reactors, which produce their energy by joining separate atomic nuclei to create heavier nuclei, this increased Nuclear Force acts as a booster. It means that separate atoms are more likely to join together. In some ways it is like joining two pieces of opposite pole magnets instead of pieces of iron.

As for how much the generators are affected by this, well, as you read before it causes the generator to sometimes produce a much larger amount of power. But bear in mind that not all generators are affected like this. For staters, the Archangel is in an area where there is a very high amount of N-jammers burried in the ground. Also, the Pulverizer uses an older type of fusion reactor, which is more suspectible to outside influence. AC's, with their newer generators will be affected l... oops, got carried away.

Anyway, here's a new chapter and a new twist to the desert arc.

- Asmus


	17. Strange and unusual allies

„Okay, that's enough. Stop right here." A female voice echoed across the narrow confines of the Warchief tank. In response the machine trembled and its massive engine roared one last time before being turned off. The following silence was welcomed with series of relieved sighs and groans as the four members of its crew prepared to leave the machine.

With a short yawn, to equalize the pressure in her ears, the Major pulled off the helmet she was wearing. Immediately every sound became much louder, since the helmet was designed to muffle the loud noise of the engine to prevent ear damage. While most modern tank engines were relatively silent, that was not the case with the Warchief. The designers had decided to equip the tank with an engine which, according to many, was too powerful than necessary. This allowed the seemingly heavy and slow tank move much faster than most people would suspect. The drawback was, of course the noise. Even with helmets, a lot of people complained about headaches, dizziness and severely reduced hearing, persisting for hours after they had left the tank.

She could already hear the two Pitbulls stopping somewhere nearby, as well as the smaller engines of several jeeps approaching their position. A quick glance at one of the monitors confirmed her suspicions. A dozen of smaller vehicles stopped in the nearby area and people began piling out. Gathering in a loose group, they all set their sights on the Archangel and waited.

"Hmm, it looks like Sahib wants to talk to them." The man she had called Felix some time ago, said, also staring out trough the targeting display. "If so, it means that…" He let his words hang in the air, as if expecting the Major to finish his sentence.

"Yes, Felix, we all can leave the tank for now, but be sure to remain nearby." The woman quickly added when the other three members of the crew immediately reached for the nearest hatch. Not wanting to remain all alone she popped open the hatch above her and took a deep breath of fresh air.

Pulling her dark brown, medium length hair from where they were tucked behind the collar of her field uniform, she grabbed her cap and placed it on its proper place, replacing the bulky helmet she'd worn earlier.

With a well-practiced move she reached for the edge of the hatched and pulled herself out of the Warchief and into the desert morning. Squinting her dark green eyes in the morning sun, the Major surveyed the surrounding area, while climbing out of the tank at the same time.

Except for the two Cherokee class linear tanks who were keeping watch from the top of the dune, all members of the Desert Dawn had gathered at the bottom of the valley. The Archangel was sitting not far from the group. Silent and immobile, the ship and its crew had yet to show any signs of activity. _They're probably trying to figure out what to do next._ The Major glanced at the bridge as she reached the ground.

She could have just jumped, like most of the crew often did, but her hatch was on top of the turret, meaning that the jump would have to be made from a height of almost five meters. Although it wasn't anything dangerous, there was always the chance of screwing up and landing in a not so graceful manner. That's why she always preferred to reach the main hull before making the jump. Safer that way.

She barely made a few steps when a sudden breeze engulfed her in a fair amount of dust. Her opened, khaki trench coat fluttered in the wind, revealing an EA battlefield uniform underneath. Silently cursing the young woman weathered the sudden breeze and then proceeded to rid herself from most of the sand. She dusted off the clothes underneath before covering the jacket and its name tag, which read Maria Williams, with the trench coat and preparing herself for any future breezes.

As she took the last few steps towards Sahib, her eyes fell on the machines responsible for causing a lot of commotion lately. One of them she recognized instantly, Desert Dawn had a lot of information about the Strike and research surrounding it. Courtesy of the girl, standing next to Sahib. Even though Maria's tongue itched to find out where the girl, Cagalli, was from, her attempts were discouraged by the huge man constantly escorting Cagalli. One, steely look from that guy was more than enough to make Maria change her mind. Currently the Strike stood between them and the Archangel, the huge cannon held loosely by its side. For now. Maria also noted that the beautiful colors were gone, turning the Strike gunmetal grey.

The other machine was called … Maria, searched her memory and realized that she knew nothing at all about the light blue and copper machine, glaring at the small group from behind the Archangel's port mandible. Common sense suggested that this thing was also involved with the G project. _Probably another one of those prototypes … but I thought the rest of them were stolen by ZAFT, or maybe there were more prototypes than she told us about._ Maria was about to ask Cagalli for information when she noticed the bodyguard somewhere at the edge of her vision. It was amazing how quickly the thought disappeared.

"Something's happening. Looks like they're ready to talk." Sahib commented when the nearest hatch opened and disgorged two people. A female clad in EA's bridge officer's uniform and a male, sporting purple and black flight suit.

"Just two of them?" Maria arched her eyebrows in surprise, when no one else followed the pair out of the ship. "Well, at least they're feeling confident about themselves." Someone cleared his throat behind her.

"Why shouldn't they? They have two Mobile Suits and a fucking warship backing them up." Maria caught sight of Felix Benet. The Warchief's gunner. A rather plump man, also clad in EA field uniform, with the jacket slung over his shoulder, giving everyone a good look at the plethora of various chains around his neck, which was so short it made his head look like it was sinking in his shoulders. A pair of small beady eyes and a mohawk, sitting on the crest of his head made him look like warthog. A warthog wearing an entire jewelry store around his neck. Catching Maria's gaze he smiled, revealing a fair amount of missing teeth. "If anything we're the one's sitting at a gunpoint. Of course if we do take the Captain over there as a hostage, the ship's pretty much ours." He grinned even wider, nodding towards the young woman approaching them.

"Shut up Felix! We're not commandeering that ship. It's ours anyway. So I would appreciate if you kept your mouth shut before you cause any trouble." Maria hissed trough the corner of her mouth, fairly certain that the two representatives were in hearing range.

xxxxx

"Earth Alliance? What are they doing here? I thought there weren't any Alliance forces in the area." A deep frown settled on Murrue's face when she spotted a few EA uniforms among the crowd of what seemed to be some kind of freedom fighters.

"Maybe they're deserters. Morale isn't very high among the EA forces you know. There's bound to be people wishing for a more … democratic order." Mu shrugged as they made their way towards the group. "They certainly don't look like soldiers." He glared at one of the soldiers, who shot a starving look at Murrue. "By the way, be careful, they don't look too friendly."

"I noticed that, thank you." Murrue replied a bit more fiercely than she wanted. She'd also noticed the unpleasant look thrown at her. However, she quickly shoved the thought aside and focused on the large, burly man standing in front of the group. During her walk from the Archangel, she had picked him out as the apparent leader. Feeling more than slightly anxious, she cleared her throat. "Usually I would thank you for helping us, but since we don't know each other I guess that's still up in the air."

"We didn't come here to help you. We simply attacked our enemies." He grinned. "Your ship and those two, simply served as a bait."

"It seems so. Despite this, please accept our thanks." Murrue replied with a short smile. "I am Captain Murrue Ramius of the Alliance's 8th Fleet."

"Huh? Wasn't the 8th Fleet destroyed?" A young voice called out from the crowd. The leader held up his arm to silence whoever was talking.

"I am Sahib Ashman. We're the Desert Dawn." He introduced himself. However, before he could continue any further, a young woman left the crowd and stood next to him.

"Well, not all of us. I am Major Maria Williams. 3rd company, 7th armored battalion, 26th Atlantic Federation Expeditionary division. At least what's left of it." She said with a friendly smile. Unlike most of the people who wore various kinds of expressions, ranging from neutral to unfriendly, she seemed to be genuinely happy with their presence.

Mu looked her over and did the same with her comrades. "Atlantic Federation forces? What are you doing here? This territory is supposed to be completely under ZAFT's control."

"It's not. Mostly because of us. We've been fighting those ZAFT bastards for months now." Sahib intervened before Maria could open her mouth. She shot him a dissatisfied look, but didn't say anything more. Sahib almost sighed in relief. Although Maria's help was much appreciated, sometimes she could talk everyone's heads off, therefore he often made a point to silence the upcoming chatter whenever possible. He looked at Mu and frowned. "You look kind of familiar, pal." He thought for a moment and then actually smiled. "Ahh, yes. The Hawk of Endymion, Mu La Flaga. This is the last place I imagined to meet you." His words drawing gasps and muted whispers from the crowd and surprised looks from Murrue and Mu.

"You seem to possess an impressive amount of information. Perhaps you know something about us as well?" Murrue was first to recover. Sahib simply shrugged and looked at the Archangel.

"Earth Alliance's new Archangel class assault carrier the Archangel." He revealed one of the Alliance's greatest secrets like it was common knowledge. "You ended up here after being chased by Commander Le Creuset … That one over there…" He was interrupted again, this time by a blond girl standing on the other side of him.

"That's GAT-X105 Strike, one of Earth Alliance's new Mobile Suits." The girl explained in a matter-of-fact voice. However, the very same tone disappeared when she turned her attention towards the Pulverizer. "As for that one, I don't know it's name, but I believe it's also part of the G project."

"Well then." Sahib scratched his beard when the girl was done talking. "I'm glad we all found out what each of us do, but honestly I am surprised to see the cause of 8th Fleet's disaster landing here of all places, but I assume you had no choice in that matter. What I do want to hear, is what are you planning to do next?"

"Does that mean you're going to help us?"

"Maybe. One thing though, if you do want to talk I suggest you put down your weapons first." Sahib replied slightly louder than necessary to get his point across to people listening to this conversation via audio sensors. He looked at both machines. "That includes pilots as well."

Murrue considered that for a moment and decided to follow Sahib's instructions. Despite Natarle's protests against working with these people, Murrue knew full well that they needed Desert Dawn's help. "I understand." She said, also loud enough for everyone to hear. "Lieutenants Yamato and Stokes, please, come down."Kira responded instantly. The Strike's cockpit opened and extended the lift cable, allowing the flight suit clad teenager to descend down to the ground.

However, the Pulverizer stood motionless. After a moment the machine turned to fully face the crowd and Danel's voice came through the external speakers. "Uhh, Captain, I don't think it's possible. I can't do it out here."

Further explanations weren't required as Murrue quickly caught up to what Daniel was talking about. "Mister Sahib, unfortunately the second pilot can't leave his unit. The Pulverizer doesn't use the lift cable most Mobile Suits have, which means the cockpit is only accessible when the Pulverizer is inside the hangar." She explained. "However, I assure you, the pilot won't take any action without my orders." Sahib stared at her, searching for any deceit in her eyes, when he saw none, she shrugged his shoulders and was about to say something when he was interrupted again, for the third time this day.

"YOU!" Cagalli cried in mixed indignation and surprise when Kira, after reaching the ground, removed his helmet as he approached them. She ran over to Kira, who was now standing still and staring at her with a puzzled look on his face. She took a closer look at him and realized that the pilot truly was the same person she had seen on Heliopolis. "Why .. What the hell are you doing in that thing?" Cagalli yelled again as she tried to smack him, but to her complete surprise Kira grabbed her wrist at the same time she attempted to carry out her thoughts.

"What are you talking about?" Kira asked thoughtfully, as he tried to recall where he could have met this girl. She looked a lot like that person on… He stared at her face, completely oblivious to her attempts to free her hand, and the he realized that he had seen her earlier. "You … You were at Heliopolis! … You survived! How did y…" Kira was cut short when the girl's attempts to break free resulted in a fairly solid backhand landing on his face.

"I said let me go!" Cagalli finally managed to free her hand, while Kira used his own to cover the place she'd struck and stared at her confusedly.

"What was that all about?" Mu whispered to Murrue, more than slightly surprised by the unusual conversation. "It looks like they know each other."

"Don't worry, she's always like that." Maria said from behind them, ignoring the scowl she received from a tanned, muscled man nearby. "You'll get used to her eventually."

Meanwhile one of the resistance fighters approached Sahib and said something in a low voice. Too quiet for others to hear. Whatever it was, Sahib's behavior changed from cautious to alert. "Listen up people; we have to get out of here! We just received a message that the Tiger will soon reach the Lesseps. While I doubt he's going to attack us again, there's no telling what he's thinking about and I don't want to stay here and find out." Almost instantly the crowd dispersed to their respective vehicles. "As for you, people. I suggest you get that ship of yours moving and follow us." He said to Murrue in a tone which told her she didn't really have a choice. "It looks like you'll be our guests for a while."

xxxxx

"I'm glad you both safely made it to Gibraltar." Rau said from the large screen, located in the main room of the communications building in the Gibraltar base. Yzak and Dearka, both recipients of the message didn't say anything, although Dearka did give their Commander an incredulous look. "You both performed well in the previous battle."

"Sir, I can hardly all that a good performance, we nearly died back there."

Rau replied with one of his usual grins, which could have meant anything. However, the smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared and he continued as if nothing had happened. "For now it looks like you'll have to remain on Earth for a while. With the destruction of the Alliance's 8th Fleet things are very hectic up here. Some people are … upset with the amount of destruction you caused, so it's best for you to lie down for a while."

"We destroy the enemy and they're angry at us?" Dearka clarified disbelievingly. "Where's the logic in that?"

"They believe that completely destroying the enemy was too much. Especially after they'd begun to retreat."

"That red bastard is the one responsible. While he was taking turkey shots at the remaining ships we were already halfway down." Dearka pointed out while sparing a look at Yzak, who simply stood there, with half his face bandaged, and stared at the screen. "They should be blaming him, not us. And what's the deal with him anyway? He does almost nothing to destroy the Archangel, yet keeps going after small fry." Rau stared back at him for a moment before sighing.

"Hustler One's objectives were pretty much to do what he wanted. In hindsight, it looks like we should have given him more specific tasks. However, despite what he did or didn't do, I did learn something interesting about the Mantis from him." He smiled again when his two pilots suddenly looked very interested. "First of all its real name is the Pulverizer and as suspected, Earth Alliance didn't build it. It was built on Utopia. We don't know how it got here, but what is known, is that it's a predecessor to ACs used by Ravens, such as Hustler One."

"So we're fighting an older version of the thing that guy uses, pardon me for saying, but why should we care? I've seen how it performs. It gives the word, pathetic, a whole new meaning." Yzak spoke for the first time in this conversation. Rau paused for a moment before shaking his head slowly.

"You're thinking from the wrong side. It's the technology inside which makes the Pulverizer truly valuable. Right now both PLANTs and Earth Alliance are very eager to get their hands on Utopian technology. While our friends from Circ-City are willing to share them, they're demanding resources and assistance in return. Now, if the Pulverizer stays in Alliance's hands, they'll have free access to technology we have to pay for. It'll also give them an advantage when dealing with the corporations."

"Damn, I never thought about it like that." Dearka muttered thoughtfully. "This makes the Pulverizer potentially a lot dangerous than the Strike. I'm guessing the Pulverizer is now on top of the kill list?" He looked quizzically at Rau.

"Yes, but not for you. Despite the level of destruction, the very same people were also impressed with the Raven's work. Therefore they decided to hire one of them to take out the Pulverizer. The Raven will be temporary attached to our team, since we're already hunting the Archangel, and will reach the Gibraltar base in a few days."

"Wait, what!? Why is that mercenary coming here? The Archangel could be anyw…" Dearka trailed off when he saw the grin on Rau's face.

"Actually the projected trajectory of the Archangel's descent puts it somewhere in North Africa. Commander Andrew Waltfield is already searching for them and should locate them soon. Once he's found them you'll probably be sent in to provide assistance." Dearka head Yzak take a sharp breath. Plainly his friend intended to settle the score with Strike. "As for now, you two should enjoy the free time." Rau added and cut the connection.

"Isn't that nice. We're ordered to stand here and do nothing, waiting when a contract killer and the Desert Tiger decides to contact us." Dearka commented with a sigh and stared at the blank screen for a while, before turning around to face Yzak standing behind him. Yzak didn't even look at him, his one eye drilling into the screen and the wall in front of him. "What's with you?" In response Yzak slowly began removing the bandages covering his injury. "Hey, you shouldn't do that!" Dearka jumped to his feet. "If you take them off now, it'll leave a scar." However, Yzak wasn't even listening.

"Provide assistance? Fuck that!" He half shouted as he removed the last bandages revealing the fresh wound, stretching from his forehead all the way down across his nose and right cheek. "I'll tear that bastard's legs from his fucking ass!"

xxxxx

When most people thought about rebels and their camps in desert they usually imagined a group of ragtag people, armed with cheap and outdated firearms, living in flimsy tents near oasis or a few ancient houses built by people no one could remember. At best they would have a couple of run down vehicles, missing most of the parts and barely working at all. However, the scene that opened before Mu's eyes, as he stood in the middle of the main camp a few hours later, was different. A lot different. Night versus day different.

First of all he was standing in what seemed to be either a canyon or an abandoned mining complex. Cliffs on both sides were high enough to almost completely hide the Archangel. Not only that, but the Desert Dawn's camp easily had room for the white ship to enter completely. Hidden by cliffs from all sides and obscured from aerial scouts by large patches of camouflage netting, the Archangel was hidden better than anyone could wish for, especially after they realized how open the surrounding terrain was.

Second there wasn't a flimsy tent or a collapsing shack anywhere to be seen. Sure there were a couple of shelters, but their only purpose was to provide people working outside with a comfortable spot of shade. All of the important stuff was kept safe and secured in the numerous caves and tunnels, crisscrossing the nearby cliffs like a sponge. Furthermore, there were a lot of small field hangars taking up both sides of the canyon, used by various armies for ages, to quickly create an environment suited for repairing and maintaining various vehicles.

Finally the last part, which made Mu change his thoughts regarding the ragtag bunch of rebels, was the intimidating vehicles in front of him. A wide range of combat vehicles, from jeeps and light missile trucks to IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) and even a large number of tanks. Though most of them were the old Pitbull tanks, there was a fair amount of the new Cherokees and of course the Warchief. This and the sight of various heavy weapon emplacements he had seen during their entrance to the camp, fully convinced Mu about how wrong he was. Desert Dawn wasn't a group of rebels, hell, it was an army. The only difference was that they weren't wearing uniforms. Or at least most of them didn't.

"Are you coming?" Murrue's voice woke him up from his thoughts, the surrounding scene failing to impress her so much as mu, though she did kept looking around from time to time.

"Yeah, sure, I just got lost in my thoughts." Mu shook his head and followed them as Sahib led Murrue, Natarle and Mu into one of the tunnels. "Wow, looks comfy." He commented when he saw the artificially created hallways, which were wide enough to allow four people walk side by side without any restrictions.

He was about to say the same thing again when they entered what apparently was the command center. The place was absolutely loaded with computers, projectors and even a pair of displays taking up the entire left wall. Though the equipment was relatively old and outdated, it was more than enough for Desert dawn's needs.

Leaning over a nearby radio, with the back turned against them, was the very same girl Mu had spotted earlier. One the other hand, considering the scene she'd caused in the morning, it was almost impossible not to take notice of her.

Mu also noticed that Maria was also present. Despite being involved in a conversation with the same soldier who stared at Murrue in a certainly unpleasant way, Maria spared a moment to look at Mu and give him a short, mischievous smile and a wink, before returning her attention back on the wall-mounted display, showing a map of North Africa.

Once again Mu felt his eyes wonder. This time in a much narrower range as he looked Maria over. She definitely was attractive. Mu placed her age somewhere around early twenties, maybe a year or two younger than Murrue. Even though her body was on the slim side, results of having an active lifestyle, Mu couldn't help but notice that she was definitely well endowed, though not as much as…

"Mu! Are you listening?" Mu looked around and found Murrue, Natarle and Sahib staring at him frustratingly. He blinked several times and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I was just … admiring the equipment you guys have here." He kept his smile, despite being on the receiving end of several glares. _Focus, man, focus! _"So you live here as well?"

"No, I already said, this is our main base. Almost everyone lives in the nearby villages." Sahib tried to not to show his growing impatience by grabbing a cup of coffee from the coffee table, as he repeated himself, but he failed to prevent it from leaking into his voice.

"Villages?"

"Yes. There are three of them." Sahib walked over to the table in the middle of the room and pointed at the map lying there. Mu, noticed the lack of annoyance in his voice and sighed in relief. He hadn't heard only one explanation. Good, now sahib wouldn't have to repeat what he already said again. "We're here." Sahib pointed in the map, whilst sitting on the side of the table and sipping his coffee. "There are three villages nearby. Banadiya. The largest town in the region ... Then there's Tassil. As you can see it's not that far from here and a lot of our people come from there … And this one way over here is Moora. It doesn't look like much, but the surrounding area is full discarded vehicles and equipment."

"Just as I thought, this place is the only hiding place for this ship." Murrue examined the map. "Thank you again for your help. We'd be stuck in the desert if not for your help." For a moment they all fell silent as Murrue and Natarle tried to learn more information about the area, while Sahib continued to deplete the amount of coffee inside the cup.

"So, who is she?" Mu suddenly inquired, after he had traced the older man's thoughtful look and realized that he was looking at the blond girl in the corner. Sahib glared at him and then shrugged his shoulders.

"She's our goddess of victory." He replied curtly. However mu didn't let up.

"And her name? … Well it would be rude to pass by not knowing a goddess's name." He added in a friendly voice when Sahib glared at him again.

"She's Cagalli." The reply was just as short as the previous one. "Now, I assume you want to get to Alaska, right?" He quickly changed the topic and pulled out a small map of the entire Africa from a nearby stack. After a brief inspection he put it down on the table. "It won't be easy. ZAFT controls the most of the airspace. After the recent fall of Victoria base, that power has grown even stronger."

"So the rumors were true then. Victoria has fallen." Natarle muttered silently.

"Yeah, didn't put up much of a fight either." Sahib added with a grim smile. "Since most of the Africa belongs to ZAFT, a lot of us were looking forward to the formation of Southern Africa Independence Organization. However the South Africa Federation, ones behind this idea were abandoned by the Earth Alliance." His face became morose again. "No wonder they were defeated so easily. Apparently someone didn't like their ideas ... The situation changes day by day."

"Even so, you people seem to be working diligently." Mu tried to lighten the mood, but failed.

"To us ZAFT or Earth Alliance makes no difference. Both come here to conquer and pillage."

"Is that so? How can you explain them?" Natarle intervened and nodded at Maria. "They look nothing like village warriors you claim yourselves to be. Who are they?" Her last words were loud enough for the person in question to hear. She looked at them and, seeing several sets of eyes looking at her, presumed they were talking about her.

"What is it?"

"You said, you're part of the Alliance military. What I want to know is, who are you people and what are you doing here?" Natarle demanded information, as she scowled at her.

"Oh, sure. Why not? … Later, Felix." She clapped the man she was previously talking to on the shoulder and went over to the table. "Well, I already said, I'm part of what's left of the 26th Atlantic Federation Expeditionary division."

"What's left of it? What happened?"

"Andrew Waltfield happened." Maria's voice became bitter. "We were attached to the Eurasian 4th tank corps, during the Suez Battle. As you all know that bastard beat us like he wasn't even trying, though I heard he had some problems with the 2nd armored battalion." She added absentmindedly. "Anyway, during the battle my battalion was cut off and our COs were either captured or killed, leaving me in charge. I rallied everyone I could and we retreated deep into the mainland." She indicated several locations on the map.

"We traveled towards this place here, which was supposed to serve as an emergency extraction point, but with all those N-jammers around we couldn't get in contact with anyone and eventually they abandoned us. A few weeks later we managed to get into contact with Desert Dawn and we've remained with them ever since."

"Why?" Mu's question turned everyone's heads. Finding himself in the center of the attention, he smiled sheepishly. "I mean why would you remain here for so long? Given that Suez Battle happened several months ago, I assume you had lots of opportunities to return to our forces and continue your fight from there. Why did you stay?"

Maria stared at him for several seconds, her eyes narrow and pensive. "If you put it that way, then yes, staying here doesn't sound like a good idea." She said slowly, considering every word. "However, if I would return, there's a chance my unit would be deployed somewhere else and I can't allow that to happen … You see, me and my men, we made a wow. We swore to avenge our friends who died in that hell. And we're not leaving until that Tiger is here." All three officers from the Archangel shared a nervous look. Despite her voice being calm and collected, they all heard a faint touch fanaticism. Obviously, these people took their wows very, very seriously.

"Uhh, yes … well, now that we're finally gotten to know each other, how about we talk over how you're going to get to Alaska." Sahib interrupted the uncomfortable silence and focused their attention on the map. "Now, how does you're ship perform in the atmosphere?"

xxxxx

Meanwhile Kira had settled himself on top of the ridge, where he could scrutinize the results of his work. The Archangel wasn't covered nearly as much as he considered to be needed. There simply wasn't enough camouflage netting to cover the whole ship completely. Instead, they opted to use the large patches of the net to cover as many sections as possible. As a result, while not being completely covered, the Archangel was more or less hidden from casual aerial recon runs, its silhouette broken up and obscured by the covers.

He continued to enjoy not only the result of his work, but the surrounding scenery as well, until he noticed someone walking up the ridge, towards him. Upon a closer look Kira realized that the person was the same girl, Cagalli, if he recalled correctly, he'd encountered earlier that day. Steeling himself for another potential argument, he observed her and waited, eager to find out what was on her mind.

A few seconds later Cagalli stood in front of him, an embarrassed and uncomfortable look on her face. She seemed to be collecting herself to say whatever was on her mind. A few, brief moments, she looked at him, not in his eyes, but slightly past him and said. "Umm, sorry about before … About the hit … I didn't mean to hit you." Kira stared at her and let out a short chuckle, amused by the fact that something this simple had caused her so much embarrassment.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" The said embarrassment was gone in an instant, replaced by irritation and a balled fist positioned by her side ready to land a solid punch.

"No, it's nothing." Kira replied apologetically and sat down on a nearby rock. Cagalli regarded him angrily before she calmed down and turned her mind in another direction.

"You know, I was kinda worried about you." She admitted. "Ever since you showed me inside that shelter on Heliopolis I often wondered whether you got out safely … But then you appear out of nowhere, piloting that thing." Cagalli's eyes turned towards the Strike for a brief moment. Kira turned around as well and spared one glance at his Mobile Suit, which he had left a short distance behind him, after he was done covering the Archangel. Cagalli looked back at him. "On top of that you're with the Earth Alliance now."

"Lots of things happened … Lots of things." Kira met her gaze with a heavy sigh. He fell silent for a moment as he briefly recalled the events which had forced him to eventually enlist in the Alliance forces. However, his thoughts were scattered when he looked at Cagalli again and a sudden thought occurred to him. "What about you? How did you end up in desert? Weren't you from Orb?" He didn't hesitate to turn his thoughts into words.

Suddenly, Cagalli looked very uncomfortable. Unlike before, the uneasiness was caused by nervousness not embarrassment. "Uh, you see … it's complicated … hard to put it in words." She glanced around, searching for anything that could serve as a distraction. Her reasons for being here, not to mention her actual identity, weren't something she wanted to discuss with Kira, even if he seemed like a nice guy. It was supposed to be a secret after all.

The fact that she couldn't see anything served as a wonderful source of inspiration for the change of the topic. "Anyway, there's something else I wanted to ask you. That other Mobile … er … thing, the Pul-something. What can you tell me about it?"

Cagalli's nervousness was impossible to miss. It was clear she didn't want to talk about herself. However, Kira didn't press it. If Cagalli wanted to keep things secret, it was fine by him. "The Pulverizer? I don't know that much about it. You should ask Daniel, he's the pilot of that machine."

"I don't feel like searching for someone I don't know and ask him about the Pulverizer." Cagalli replied with a hint of impatience. "I'm sure you know something about it, so why don't you tell me what you know?"

"Okay ... Well, we found that thing on Heliopolis…" Kira gave up and began telling her whatever he knew about the Pulverizer.

xxxxx

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Daniel tapped the power gauge display. Waves of interference rippled across the screen from where his finger had touched the surface, before restoring the image. The energy bar was still as a statue and there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. At least until Daniel directed his gaze at the computer in his lap.

He had once again connected the computer to the Pulverizer's CPU and accessed a more detailed report regarding the generator's performance. Unlike the overall power status displayed on the monitor he kept fingering, the report gave him a lot more information. Enough to notice anomalies taking place somewhere under the cockpit.

While not as evident as before, since the Pulverizer was currently in low power mode, he could see several meters jumping from time to time. All of them had to do something with the power production. For reasons he could not fathom, the generator experienced brief moments of increased output. They weren't serious as before, having become weaker and less frequent ever since he had disengaged the combat mode. However, they were still there, persistently messing with the generator and Daniel's mind.

Still glaring at the laptop he leaned back and began searching for a way around this problem. While these power surges didn't appear to cause lasting damage to the machine, and seemed to be more or less harmless, Daniels wasn't an idiot. They were harmless because he was currently sitting inside the Archangel, in the middle of Desert Dawn's base, with no enemies nearby. All that could change if he were to go into battle like this. The last fight had showed him that things like this could negatively influence his combat potential and eventually lead to his death.

Thinking about the last battle made him remember several things. His next breath further recalled the unpleasant events. "Just fucking go away already!" Daniel whispered in frustration while wrinkling his nose when he noticed the faint smell of urine. Immediately he clenched his fist and fought down the wave of embarrassment.

When ZAFT BuCues had nearly killed him during one of the system shutdowns, Daniel had experienced a very unpleasant event, caused by uncontrolled fear. It was one of those things that were amusing and funny when happening to others while being certain that nothing similar would ever happen to him. Back then he hadn't noticed it, but after the shooting stopped, it required only a few seconds to detect. He had never felt so humiliated in his life. The feeling deepened when he saw that Kira, who had gone through the same experience, was completely unaffected. Calm even.

The realization was like a worm, constantly gnawing at his ego. Once again Kira had proved to be better than Daniel. Daniel slammed his fist against the armrest in anger. _Damned Coordinators! _His dislike towards Coordinators increased again. Both since Kira was better and due to those bastards who had demeaned him.

One thing did make him feel slightly better. He realized it could have been worse; he could have soiled himself in a much messier way. Furthermore, he was thankful for Murrue persuading the leader of the Desert dawn to allow him remain inside the cockpit. His spirits lifted even more when Daniel was able to get out of the cockpit, change his clothes and even clean the mess inside the cockpit without anyone getting a good look at him. Although Murdoch did give him strange looks a couple of times.

Still sullen about the recent events he returned to here and now. The readings were still behaving strangely having no reason to disappear while Daniel relived his latest memories. "Oh, will you just GET THE FUCK OUT!" He yelled and slammed his foot against the floor. As expected, this ancient repair method didn't help at all. Just to be sure he tried it a few more times. Nothing except for sore pain in his foot. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! … Think, damn, think!" He rubbed his forehead vigorously, while searching for something, anything that would help him. "Why are you acting like this!? There was nothing wrong with you…" Then it dawned to him. He strained his memory and found it.

There wasn't a single power surge from the moment he first entered the Pulverizer right up until the Archangel landed on Earth. Suddenly another explanation presented itself. _Maybe the damage from the Blitz caused this?_ Almost immediately he ruled it out. The Pulverized had been repaired and had participated in battle when the 8th Fleet was wiped out. Aside from slight changes in maneuverability, there hadn't been any problems. No, it had to do something with the Archangel coming down to Earth.

_Something must be interfering with the generator. _Daniel mused, his foul mood almost banished. _That's got to be it! The problem is not with the Pulverizer, it's something else … But what?_ His train of thoughts stopped. His knowledge in nuclear physics was very limited. Other than the obvious "radiation bad" and "meltdown very bad", he had little idea about how fusion or fission generators worked, much less what could influence them to work differently.

Therefore, he put the thought aside for the moment and deiced to take the other way. If he couldn't solve the root of the problem he would have to come up with a solution to its fruits. "Hmm, let's take a closer look at those damned surges." He pulled the computer closer and began typing.

xxxxx

Later that evening, Cagalli still could feel her head spinning. What expected to be a short talk about the Pulverizer, had turned out into a long conversation not only about the Pulverizer, but Circ-City, the meeting and planet Utopia as well. All of these things, this new knowledge, quite literary blew her mind. Cagalli had always assumed that Desert Dawn was well informed. After all, they received information not only from their spies among ZAFT forces in nearby town, but Cagalli had some connections of her own as well. However, no one had mentioned even the tiniest bit of information about mysterious space stations or sudden diplomatic meetings.

Naturally, a part of her thought that this was some kind of a joke. Maybe that guy had come up with these stories just to pay her back for the morning. She gritted her teeth. If this all was indeed a joke, then the Strike would soon be without a pilot. An accidental smack on the face would be nothing compared to the bloodbath that guy would experience.

Still, the whole thing sounded too honest to be a joke. The descriptions and various events were too detailed for them to be made up out of the blue. Furthermore the pilot didn't strike her as a liar. If anything, he was a complete opposite. Honest, slightly depressed and confused. None of which were traits well suited for lying. Especially for creating lies on the go. No, there was something more to this. Cagalli was certain he was telling the truth. And that meant…

Cagalli stopped what she was currently doing, namely, searching for the very same pilot in order to get more information from him or maybe even convince him to introduce her to this Daniel guy who was supposed to know more about the whole situation. She stood next to a huge rock and stared at it thoughtfully.

If what he said was true, then a lot of things, hell, everything would change. People arriving from another planet weren't something you just shrugged your shoulders at. This was one of those huge, world changing events. Event which would later be looked upon as another milestone in human history.

She looked up in the skies, as if trying to spot Circ-City with her own eyes. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing else than thousands of stars above her and no matter how hard she tried there was nothing else to see. She briefly imagined that she could see something move high in the skies, but when she looked again, there was nothing. _Must be my imagination._ Cagalli decided and even managed a small smile. It was silly to think she could see a space station from where she was. She was still smiling when a nearby voice pulled her back down to Earth.

"Flay! Wait a minute." Someone called from behind the rock. "I don't understand you." Few seconds later, a red haired girl came into view. The girl stopped suddenly, obviously not expecting to see her and threw a quick look at Cagalli, before renewing her hurried walk towards the Archangel nearby.

"Oh, shut up, will you!?" The girl called exasperatingly. "There is nothing for you to understand!"

"What was that?" This time it was a blond guy, wearing orange shades and dressed in a EA uniform. Just like the girl before him, he paused to give Cagalli a startled look and then followed the girl. "Please, wait!"

Cagalli blinked in confusion and followed them with her eyes, as they both made their way towards the Archangel's hatch. Just when the girl was about to reach the stairs leading into the interior of the ship, another person entered the scene.

"Kira!" The girl, who Cagalli assumed was Flay, called in relief and hurried over to him.

_So that's his name. _Cagalli watched Flay hide behind Kira and glaring at the boy who pursued her, while clinging to Kira's arm at the same time.

"What is it, Sai?" Kira said in a tired voice.

"It's something I have to discuss with Flay, it doesn't concern you." Cagalli watched Sai slow down. She also noticed the clenched fists and the fact that Sai wasn't looking at Kira directly.

"What do you mean it doesn't concern him?" Flay intervened. For a moment she seemed to be struggling with herself. "If you must know … I … Last night I was with Kira ... I slept with him okay!?" Cagalli felt her face blushing. This was definitely not something meant for her to hear, but despite her wishes to go away she couldn't force herself to move. In doing so, she witnessed what happened next.

"What!?" Sai managed weakly. The realization of betrayal cutting deeper than any knife. "Eh? Kira? Is that true!?" He looked at Kira and received all the confirmation he needed when Kira silently looked away. "What the hell happened Flay … You…" His voice choked with barely contained rage.

"So what if it's like this! I told you already. This has nothing to do with you!" Flay continued, though she did appear to be regretting her words.

"That's enough Sai ... The way I see it, you're following her even when she told you that everything's over." Kira's voice was calm, but warning at the same time. He turned around to head back into the ship while placing his arm around Flay's shoulders, asking her to accompany him. "I'm tired from the yesterday's battle … So why won't you atop already?"

Sai watched them walk up the stairs in shocked silence. Only when he was about to lose sight of them did he regain control of his body. Immediately all feelings or anger, rage, betrayal and even sadness took control of him and forced him to take the only, predictable action. "KIRA! … YOU…" He cried and rushed towards his former friend. Sai reached out to grab Kira by the shoulder, things went awry.

Faster than Cagalli's eyes could follow, Kira spun around and grabbed Sai's wrist, a second later Sai found himself facing the opposite direction, while his arm was pinned painfully behind his back. "Give it up. You know very well, you have no chance against me." Kira stated and pushed Sai down the stairs, where he landed on his back.

"Kira…" Sai gasped in powerless anger as he glared at Kira who looked back at him with mere annoyance in his eyes. They stared at each other for several seconds until Kira turned to head back inside the ship.

"Flay is the only person who understands how I feel … She's the only one who was by my side when I needed it … None of you … None of you knows what my mind goes trough when I have to fight." Kira said quietly, even though tears from pent up emotions welled up in his eyes. "No one understands me!"

"Kira." Flay whispered soothingly and placed her arms around his neck in a warm embrace. "Shhh, calm down … I know how you feel … I know it hurts … Let's go." This time it was her who guided Kira back inside.

Cagalli would have continued to stare even after everyone would have left. The awkwardness of her witnessing the situation as well as the suddenly unexpected outburst from someone like Kira, kept her chained to the ground, while her mind was totally blank from any conscious thoughts.

Fortunately for her, and the other three people present, world decided to dispel the unpleasant silence by reminding them about the war. A sudden buzz of activity took hold of the entire camp as people began moving in various directions and shouting words and phrases Cagalli couldn't make out. Finally one voice managed to overwhelm the constantly increasing noise. "Everyone get ready to move out! Tassil is burning!"

* * *

**A/N** - Nick2951 and Rickrolled, even though I haven't mentioned it in review replies, I have noticed your concerns about Flay. While I can't tell you what I have planned for her, since not everything has been decided yet, but what CAN I say is, maybe I have something in store for her ... maybe not... It's all in the future.


	18. Sandstorm

One of the displays, linked to the shuttle's external cameras, showed an image of what seemed to be a camp of some sorts. However, the image was gone before the person it was showed to could get a close look on the details. The following images showed nothing more than the nightly desert. Boring.

A small light flickered to life, banishing the dim darkness with a flickering, orange aura. The light revealed several other monitors, most of them in low power modes, a set of control joysticks, several keyboards and, most importantly, a person controlling all these devices. A tall, lanky man in his late teens, clad in a flight suit. Though designed for the same purpose it looked unlike anything used by EA or ZAFT. With a relatively loose and padded outer layer, protecting the uncomfortably tight inner layer and sporting what looked like armor plates, covering the vital parts of the body, it looked more like a light suit of armor. The very same light uncovered a helmet, sitting in the person's lap. The only difference from an Earth-made type was its smaller size and the visor, which revealed only the eyes of the wearer, not the whole face.

The very same light enlightened the person holding the lighter, as he smiled and gazed into the flame with his intensely blue eyes. Short, disheveled, hazel hair with a few blond specks here and there, gave him a slightly wild appearance. This was further accentuated by several, tiny scars on his jaw and forehead, while a slightly crooked nose indicated that it had been broken at some point in time. The scars were actually hard to notice due to the pale skin, especially in such a bad light.

It was strange what power fire had on people. A mere look at it, such as a campfire, candle or even a small flame from the lighter was often enough to captivate anyone for several moments. Forcing them to gaze into the flames for eternity, summoning various memories, thoughts or upcoming decisions. Some said it was because fire had played a huge role in human history. Perhaps the nature of fire, unchanged through millennia, always constant, yet changing at the same time. Perhaps it was its potential to protect people from wild animals or other people, only to become a raging, all-consuming inferno, turning against the very people it protected earlier, a moment later.

The shuttle shuddered suddenly after encountering some air pockets. The slight shivers made the pilot's thoughts change their pattern and eventually he found himself thinking about more recent events. The shuttle was carrying him and his AC towards his destination, a mission from one of the native factions, the Earth Alliance. The mission, though well paid, was actually very simple. Go to Victoria, Africa, locate a group of machines known as Mobile Suits and destroy them. Afterwards he was to return to one of the EA bases with a recording of the said battle and receive his payment. Simple. Easy money. However, simple as it was, the Raven knew full well what kind of an importance this mission held.

This was the first time the Earth Alliance had hired a Raven. It meant that the outcomes of this mission would influence their decision to hire other Ravens. Do good and there would be a lot of juicy jobs in the future. Do bad and there would be one less employer, not to mention the beating he would get from other Ravens by ruining their reputation. Despite the potential problems, this was almost an honor.

However, a couple of thoughts darkened his mood. He wouldn't be the first Raven to appear before these natives. Someone else had snatched that title, when a faction called ZAFT attacked Earth Alliance and wiped out one of their fleets. Judging from the reports, the Raven had managed to destroy a large portion of the fleet all by himself. A feat which had impressed all involved sides. Rumors said this Raven was none other than Hustler One himself. However, he couldn't bring himself to believe it. Hustler One didn't exist. Sure, the guy was a legend, a Raven who was supposed to be unbeatable, but the cold, hard fact was, he didn't exist. The Raven who had destroyed the fleet must have been someone else. There were a lot of pilots capable of doing it. Hell he himself was sure he, Raiko Hostin, could probably do that. It was only a matter of method you used. Some preferred lightning-quick attacks, others went for the big guns, while the remaining ones favored the middle road.

Raiko himself was one of those people who represented the largest group of Ravens. The middleweights. Of course this name simply specified the class of the Armored Core they used. The classes were roughly based on the weight of the AC, which in turn, allowed to paint a pretty clear picture about the capabilities of each AC. Currently there were three weight classes; lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight.

The lightweight ACs, ranging from 19 to 29 tons of weight, were built for high speed or aerial battles. Their strengths lay in their impressive abilities to dodge most attacks, prolonged ability to remain airborne and, most importantly, their abilities to control the range of engagement. Another reason they were called lightweights was because of the light weapons they usually carried. It was quite obvious actually. Putting heavy weapons like howitzers, linear cannons or plasma cannons, on a light AC seriously reduced its speed and the ability to remain airborne, making it vulnerable to return fire. It was like putting a tank with wooden armor against an anti-tank gun. A death sentence. However, despite their often fragile appearance, a light AC was more durable than it looked. While they couldn't allow getting hit for long, they could allow to get hit once or twice. In fact, despite the light armor and weaponry, lightweights were among the most dangerous opponents. Blitzing back and forth, making quick and devastating passes, running around you as you tried to keep the bastard in sight, fighting you at long range only to engage you in close combat a second later and once again backing off before you could adapt. Raiko shuddered. It was the worst kind of opponent there was.

Then there were the middleweights. Falling somewhere between 30 to 42 tons, these ACs brought a combination of heavy armor, high speed and versatility to the table. Capable of using nearly all types of weapons without severely reducing their performance, middleweights were the most popular types of ACs. They could outshoot everything they couldn't outrun and they could outrun everything they couldn't outshoot. To further accentuate their versatility, most pilots often used weapons, suited for all kinds of situations. Whether they used flamethrowers, shotguns or laser blades in close combat, or fired their machineguns, laser rifles and carbines when the fight happened at medium range, or switched to missiles, cannons, or sniper rifles when the enemy was far away, they were suited for everything the battle threw at them.

Finally there were the heavies. 42 and more tons, meant lots of armor, huge guns and a heavy gait which awed and shocked at the same time. These were the heavy hitters and a real bitch to face. Capable of absorbing ridiculous amounts of punishment and spitting it out threefold, staying in one's sights was a quick way to end one's career. Furthermore, a lot of heavyweight pilots were real bastards. Often pretending to be slow, lumbering beasts to lure the enemy in false sense of security, they often caught their enemies off guard when it turned out that even a heavy AC could move pretty fast. If only for a short moment. In most cases it was enough to end the fight as the surprised enemy found himself blasted to tiny, little pieces, scattered across the area.

Realizing that his thoughts were wondering again, Raiko smiled even wider and closed the lighter. The soft glow instantly disappeared, leaving only the few monitors as the only sources of light. Fortunately it didn't last for long. Ten minutes later, the shuttle's computers informed him that he had reached the target area. Currently he was slightly more than two hundred kilometers northwest of a place called Victoria.

According to information in his possession, Victoria was a major base recently captured by ZAFT forces, since it housed one of the mass drivers used to launch all kinds of things into space. For Raiko, the name of the spaceport, or its importance, it didn't mean anything. The only thing that mattered was that there was a good chance of finding these Mobile Suits. Then the fun could begin in earnest.

According to the procedure, the shuttle's automated systems initiated a long range area scan; however, Raiko was surprised to see that the radar wasn't functioning properly. Something was affecting it, preventing him from getting an accurate reading. _Oh well. _Raiko shrugged and initiated the deployment procedure. He knew where he was and he knew what to do. Finding the enemy was only a matter of time. His client hadn't told him how soon he had to complete the mission. His only objectives were to find some Mobile Suits, beat their asses into the ground, make a nice video of him doing it and finally, reach South Africa, where they would be waiting for him.

The automated shuttle, having transported him from the client's ship in space all the way down to Earth decreased the altitude to four hundred meters and prepared to deploy his AC. Fortunately for Raiko, the shuttle sported the best stealth systems currently available. Its radar absorbing hull, made his approach almost invisible to most detection systems. This allowed for covert insertions and extractions.

The delta shaped shuttle, little over thirty meters in length, assumed a stable flight pattern and slowly opened its cargo hatch. The hatch was located on the rear underside of its hull and revealed an AC, strapped with its back against the hatch, slowly shifting from a lying to a standing position as the hatch continued to drop. Once the hatch had opened to almost forty five degrees, the magnetic clamps released and disgorged the cargo. Once the AC had been deployed, the hatch closed again and the control program steered the shuttle into a holding pattern, where it would await further orders from the AC's pilot.

Inside the AC's cockpit, Raiko began to initiate a landing sequence. There was a long fall ahead of him, and there was a lot of momentum to kill. Despite the possibility of a rather humiliating death, he felt safe. He had done these things a lot of times. In some ways it was like learning to drive a bicycle. Once you learned how to do it, it was impossible to forget. Raikko's smile turned into a nasty grin. Soon the world will find out the power of the Arsonist.

xxxxx

„They really weren't lying when they said that Tassil is burning. This place has been burned to the ground." Mu commented from his Skygrasper's cockpit as he swept over the destroyed village, searching for anything important.

After they'd received word about the attack on Tassil, Murrue had decided to lend a helping hand to their allies. However, since so little was known about the situation, she'd elected not to move the Archangel from its hiding place. Instead they had agreed to send out Mu in one of the Skygraspers to scout the village and report anything suspicious. It also made sense since he could get to the village well before anyone else. If this was a trap, a single airplane had much better chances of escaping than a group of jeeps and a couple of IFVs. And a lot better chances than several tanks, which were sent after them, just in case they needed some heavy firepower to back them up.

Seeing no enemies nearby, Mu decided to make another flight over the village, this time at a much lower altitude. "Strange." He muttered when he got a closer look at the devastation below.

"What is?" Murrue's voice asked from the radio, which he used to stay in touch with the Archangel.

"I don't see any bodies." Mu glanced out the other side of the cockpit. "Not a single one. A village this big should have several hundred people living in it, yet despite the level of destruction it seems nobody died … Of course they could have been trapped inside their houses and eventually burned along with them, since the attack happened in the middle of the night, when everyone should be sleeping."

Back at the Archangel Murrue shivered. "Let's hope that's not the case this time. What about ZAFT?"

"Nothing. They're all gone before I got here. It looks like th… Hey, it looks like I found the villagers." Mu spotted several crowds of people leaving the eastern part of the village and gathering in a single group just outside the village. "There are a lot of them just outside the village. In fact, it looks like it could be all of them." He spotted several vehicles heading towards the group and smiled. With the arrival of Desert Dawn, the villagers were safe, for now. The rebel soldiers were bound to have the necessary supplies to help the wounded. Their presence would also make everyone feel a lot better, since most men had families in Tassil and few things calmed a person down as much as knowing that his family was safe.

"I think I'll land and try to get more information about the attack. I'm certain it'll be useful for us in the future." Mu decided and began maneuvering his Skygrasper into a landing trajectory.

xxxxx

"Fucking bastard! Is this how you're fighting now?" Sahib uttered trough gritted teeth. The entire village was gone, torched to the ground, leaving hundreds of people homeless and God knows how many dead. To add fuel to the fire, the village was also one of the places where a portion of their supplies were hidden; however, he couldn't bring himself to worry about that. He had to make sure everyone was okay. The jeep had barely stopped when the driver had already jumped out to join dozens of others as they reunited with their families. Thankfully Sahib couldn't hear any cries of pain or anger, only voices of genuine joy and relief. Still, it didn't mean anything, not everyone had come with them. Someone had to stay behind and guard the base. Someone, whose family might be dead and had no way of knowing it.

"Anyone who can move, help the wounded! Bring them over there!" He ordered while simultaneously getting out of the jeep and pointing at the two APCs nearby. The two armored vehicles, courtesy of Maria, were in the process of being unloaded from their medical supplies. Several combat medics were already heading towards the villagers to provide care for those whose injuries were too dangerous for them to be moved. While the help they could offer was nowhere near the level of the field hospital they had back at the base, they could do a lot more than the very basic kiss, plaster and lollipop procedure.

Forcing himself through the crowd Sahib made his way towards where he could see people he personally knew. With a relief he spotted his son, Yaru, standing next to the village elder who was sitting on a small crate. The absence of his wife did worry him, but seeing the lack of tears and the unburdened joy with which Yaru greeted him was all the information he needed. She was fine. There was no way Yaru would leave his mother's side or smile so widely if something had happened to her.

"Dad! Cagalli!" Yaru called, forcing Sahib to look over his shoulder. He hadn't realized Cagalli was following him until now. Acknowledging her presence with a nod, he turned his attention back to the people in front of him.

"Yaru … I'm glad you're safe … What about mother and aunt Meryl?"

"The old man Shamselin fell when he was running away and injured his leg. They both went to help him." The young, brown haired boy replied, his voice trembling from relief of seeing his father alive and well.

"I see." Sahib smiled and ruffled his son's hair. Then he looked at the village elder. This time his voice was quiet and serious. "How many died in the attack?"

"Nobody died." The response drew gasps from nearby Desert Dawn soldiers and Earth Alliance officers. "They warned us shortly before the attack. They informed us that they're burning down the village and told us to get out … Then they burned everything … Food, ammunition, fuel … everything." The old man explained tiredly, his mind burdened with other matters. With the destruction of Tassil they had nowhere to go. Even if they could build a few, temporary shelters in which to hide from the weather, there still was the issue of food and water. That was even before you considered the eventual need for other kinds of supplies. "Sahib … We won't survive like this … We lost everything and I have no idea what to do now."

The defeat in the old man's voice was clearly evident. The tone of his words reaching everyone nearby and summoning mixed kind of feelings. Some felt their hearts and spirits fall into a bottomless abyss. Even in desert, the realization of defeat brought cold hopelessness and chilling numbness to many people. The sight of the burning village caused the realization of defeat to increase more and more, as several buildings collapsed, their structure weakened by the raging fire. This also served as a reminder and a warning. And this was probably the part which made the strongest impact. If ZAFT would utilize such methods on other villages, Desert dawn was done for. There was no way they could protect the villages against attacks like this. Fighting the Desert Tiger on an open battlefield in a war of attrition, help no hopes for them.

However, some people, like Sahib and Cagalli, reacted differently. "Cowardly bastard!" Sahib's gloves creaked when he clenched his hands so tight it almost hurt. His breath came out long and trembling from barely suppressed anger. "How dare he play with peoples' lives like this!?" He traced his gaze over the remains and tried to capture as many details as possible. The image would join the many others in his memory to remind him what they were fighting for. To keep him going in situations when the easiest thing to do was to simply give up and surrender. To guide his hand during the day when he would exact revenge. Revenge for burnt homes and people lost. No, they would not leave this lying down!

"You know, there is an explanation for this." Someone said from behind him, somewhat unsteadily as if the person talking was concerned about the reaction his words might cause. Sahib turned around and saw Mu closing his mouth when he had noticed several hard stares directed at him.

"What do you mean!?" Sahib regarded him icily. The female officer, also from the Archengel, standing next to him, took a long step away from her comrade, eager not to be caught in the middle of the potential crossfire.

Mu glanced around nervously, and realized that maybe he shouldn't have said anything; however, now that everyone's gaze was fixed on him it was a bit too late. "What I mean is this attack was probably the payback for your intervention last night. Not only did you ambush him, but you even took out a pair of his Mobile Suits, completely crushing any hope had had for victory … Considering that, his retaliation seems too … light. I mean, judging from what I heard just now, he warned the villagers before he attacked and apparently took extra precautions not to hurt anyone. If this is enough for him, then he probably has a lot of sympathy for you."

"What!?" Cagalli took a long step towards him and pointed at the village. "A whole village was swept away and you say "too light"? How can you say he has sympathy when he does things like this?"

Mu retreated a few steps, out of the Cagalli's energetic gestures, which looked a lot more like a pair of wide punches, than anything else and held up his hands placatingly. "Oh, sorry if I offended you. However, you do have to realize that what I say is true. It could be a lot worse, especially since you're up against ZAFT." Apparently his message didn't get trough.

"He's a lame coward!" Cagalli retorted. "A coward who thinks he can win by burning down unprotected villages and get away with it! We've always fought bravely against him, and we took down his BuCues last night … Actions like this only demonstrate how scared he is." The fire in her eyes was so intense that Mu was unable to meet her gaze for long. He looked around for a way out, but gulped when he saw the nearby villagers giving him similar looks. Apparently reason wasn't the emotion in charge of them tonight.

"Uhh… yes, well… if you think about it …" Mu attempted damage control, but to no avail. He was already past the point of no return. "The Tiger really has done it this time … cowardly attacking a defenseless village … he's a real bastard."

"So are you!" Cagalli yelled and stormed off, leaving Mu alone, completely surrounded by not too friendly looking people.

Sahib watched the brief scene in silence. Though Mu's words did upset him, he did have the common sense to look at the problem from another angle. Mu was right. The Tiger could have done much worse. Either burning the village along with its residents, or use it as a bait to lure out the Desert Dawn. Still, it didn't make him feel any better. And it certainly didn't make his men feel better as well.

"Sahib!" One of the soldiers approached him and pointed at a nearby jeep, where several other soldiers were gathering. All of them listening to something and sharing determined looks.

"What is it?" Sahib had a bad feeling the moment he set his eyes on them. All of these men had families in the village and only one thing could keep a man away from his family in need. "What are you all doing!?"

"It's the Tiger. We picked up their communications on the radio, which means they can't be far away." One of the resistance fighters answered.

"It's our chance!" Another one added. "After the attack, they should be low on ammo. If we go after them we can end this war today." Several acclamations rolled over the surrounding group. However, Sahib was far from enthusiastic.

"What kind of idiocy is this!? You realize what you're saying!?" Sahib yelled. "Going after them is pure fucking idiocy! Instead of wasting time of something like this, go and help the wounded! Take care of your families! Those things come first!"

"And what good does that do?" A third one said and pointed at the village. "Look at that! That's the end of Tassil! … Our homes and food have been burned and you're telling us to go cry to our wives and kids!?" He yelled in Sahib's face, but the taller man didn't even flinch.

Sahib stood silent for a few seconds, gathering his patience. "If you go after them, none of you will return." He said in a low voice. "Can you at least understand that!?"

"You want us to simply roll over like beaten dogs instead, Sahib? Huh? … Fuck that! We're going!" With those words spoken, they began climbing into the jeeps, leaving Sahib standing alone, an anger-stricken look on his face. He watched more than half of his men leave. The absurdity of the situation prevented him from moving a muscle in order to stop them.

Cagalli had similar feelings, though not as severe. Stunned by how quickly everything had happened, she stood next to Sahib and looked at him questioningly. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going after those idiots! Sahib replied, finally able to move again. He ran towards the nearest jeep with Cagalli close behind. "I can't let them go like this … You all, follow me, we're going after them! Maybe we can stop them before they catch up with the Tiger." He ordered the remaining soldiers and jumped into the jeep where the driver was already prepared to go. He caught sight of Cagalli just in time to prevent her from joining him in the vehicle by pushing her out. "No! You're not coming! You stay here!" Before Cagalli could object from the ground where she had landed, Sahib ordered the driver to go, leaving Cagalli coughing up dust and smoke.

"Sahib!" Cagalli called, but the man ignored her. A second later another jeep stopped nearby and she was glad to see her friend, a young boy named Ahmed, sitting in the driver's seat. The same jeep's back seat was occupied by Lenodir Kisaka, Cagalli's friend and bodyguard, along with several rocket launchers. Not wasting any time Cagalli jumped into the jeep, settling next to Ahmed and a second later they were moving at near top speed. They quickly caught up with Sahib's jeep and Cagalli used the opportunity to give the older man a smug grin as she lifted one of the rocket launchers high enough for him to see.

Saying that Sahib was unhappy to see them was an understatement. "No! Turn back! You can't come with us!" He shouted over the engine noise in powerless desperation. Despite the danger and his wishes these two were willingly throwing themselves into a certain death situation. "It's dangerous!"

"You'll need every weapon you can get! And we took them out the last time."

"We don't have Maria's tanks to back us up. Go back dammit!" Sahib tried again, but Cagalli just laughed at his words.

"There are tones of ways to fight them."

"That's right!" Ahmed concurred. "Either way we're going!" He pushed the jeep's engine even more and soon they were leaving Sahib behind as they raced to catch up with people ahead of them, ready to avenge the destruction of Tassil.

xxxxx

Mu stared at the group of vehicles in the distance and whistled silently. "Things are heating up around here." He noticed Natarle stopping next to him, also watching the departing forces.

"What are they thinking!? They can't take on BuCues with those weapons, they'll be annihilated."

"Probably." Mu muttered and looked at her. "What are we going to do?"

For a moment Natarle seemed lost in thought. "I … I don't know … we should…" She stopped when they both heard a slightly familiar sound in the distance. They'd heard it yesterday when the unexpected intervention during the fight against BuCues occurred.

"Good, Maria is here. Maybe she'll have a plan." Mu said in relief and went to meet the arriving group of Desert Dawn's heavier combat vehicles. A pair of IFVs served as the vanguard for the main force, consisting of almost twenty Pitbulls and Cherokees, dominated by the Warchief's distinct silhouette in the middle.

"Stop now!" Maria yelled into the hatch next to her, ordering both the Warchief's driver and, by extension, the entire formation when she noticed the two Archangel's officers and a few remaining freedom fighters rushing towards them. Her voice was slightly muffled due to the bandana she wore over her mouth in order to prevent her from getting a mouthful of dust. Even thought it was generally frowned upon, she preferred to command her tank by sitting on top of the turret when not in combat, not inside the Commander's compartment as required. It offered her better view of the surrounding area and a gulp of fresh air when no one was driving in front of them.

"What the fuck… is that Tassil?" Maria caught sight of the burning village and removed her goggles to get a better look. "What the hell happened here?" She asked when Mu and Natarle were in easy speaking distance. While they gathered their breaths, she used the moment to descend from the tank. Immediately she was swarmed and surrounded by several people, both Desert Dawn's fighters and villagers alike. Everyone yelling and shouting over each other in a chaotic cacophony. She tried to ask for silence or even a little space, but it didn't bring any results. The shouting continued and Maria was forced to take a few steps back when the crowd pushed uncomfortably close.

"Oi, calm the hell down and give her some room!" Maria heard Felix's voice from above her, just as she felt the tank's armored skirts against her back. The Warchief's gunner was standing on the side of the tank with his pistol drawn. Though not aimed at anyone and held by his side, the weapon did send out a subtle message. The small crowd slowly quieted down and took a few steps away from the woman.

"Thanks." Maria muttered just loud enough for him to hear and focused on Mu and Natarle, who had finally reached her through the crowd. "What happened!? Where's Sahib?" Mu quickly filled her in on the details, from the unusual nature of the attack to the eventual pursuit of Waltfield's forces.

"They didn't even think it trough. Most of them just got up and went after him. Sahib followed them, probably hoping to dissuade them, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it." Natarle finished the brief explanation.

"Ugh, those fools!" Maria hid her face in her palms and sighed depressingly. "They could have at least waited for me."

"Aren't you going after them? They need your help!" An anonymous voice called out from the crowd.

Maria glared in the voice's general direction. "Sure, let me just warm up the engines and I'll fly right after them. Or maybe I could stop fucking around and teleport my tanks directly into the battle with my magic wand." Her derisive reply barely masked the annoyance in her voice. "Look at them. These are tanks! Not jets. I can't keep up with fucking jeeps! Furthermore attacking Mobile Suits, especially BuCues, without preparation is madness."

"You're not going to help them?" Maria rolled her eyes at Natarle's incredulous question.

"Of course I will. It's just that we won't make it there in time to help." She pointed her right hand in the direction of the numerous tire tracks a few times. Moments later, after receiving the relayed order, the two IFVs took off in the indicated direction. In the mean time Maria hid her mouth behind the bandana again and continued in a muffled voice. "We'll make it just in time to recover the bodies." Afterwards she put on her goggles and climbed back up on the Warchief. The huge tank soon roared to life, scaring away people who'd gotten too close, a little payback for the earlier incident, and joined the other tanks as they crawled towards the battle on protesting threads.

Coughing and rubbing her eyes in the airborne sand Natarle stumbled her way out of the dust cloud. She tripped on some loose sand and would have fallen if Mu hadn't caught her from behind. "Careful ... You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks." Natarle nodded in appreciation and wiped the last traces of dust from her eyes. She glared at the woman sitting on top of the tank and added in an angry voice. "She could have at least warned us. Give us some time to get away … So, what do we do now?" Natarle looked at Mu expectantly, after a brief moment of consideration.

Mu glanced at his Skygrasper. "I'll contact the Archangel. Maybe Murrue can send out Kira and Daniel to help them." He said and made his way towards the aircraft.

xxxxx

"They did what!?" Murrue jumped to her feet, unable to remain calm after what she'd heard. "They followed after them? … Why didn't you try to stop them?"

On the display, Mu's face frowned and gave her an incredulous look. "Stop them? If I tried that they would have shot me and gone nonetheless. You didn't see the look in their eyes." He shivered. "More than that, a lot of people here are wounded. They need water more than they need food." He spotted Natarle in the distance, surrounded by several children. "I have no idea what we should do."

"We should be able to spare some of our surplus resources. I'll send some people over. Maybe we can help." Murrue said. "I will send out Kira and Daniel as well, maybe they can help the Desert Dawn. We can't let them die like this."

"Roger that." Mu nodded and cut the transmission. Murrue shifted her gaze towards Miriallia in the CIC section.

"Prepare the Strike and the Pulverizer for launch. Maybe they can reach them before the battle begins."

"Yes, ma'am." Miriallia replied, her hands already darting across the keyboard, issuing orders and granting the necessary permissions. "Kira, Daniel, you two have permission to launch. "

"Understood." Kira's reply was short and to the point. Anticipating the eventual launch he was already strapped inside his Mobile Suit, ready for launch as soon as the order was issued. However, Daniel was nowhere near Kira's state of readiness.

"Uhh, I can't. I'm currently a bit busy." Daniel said, his voice strained and slightly absent, as if his mind was focusing on something else, other than the conversation. "The Pulverizer experienced some technical problems during the last fight. I'm trying to fix them right now … I'm afraid I can't help…" He was cut short by Kira.

"It doesn't matter. I don't need his help anyway. I'll take care of it myself." Kira informed them impatiently as he waited for the Strike to be outfitted with the Aile Striker pack. "Okay … everything's ready and prepared for launch … Kira Yamato, going out." The linear catapult shuddered and shot the Strike out into the desert. The white Gundam wasted little time in gunning its thrusters and leaving in the direction, which was assumed to be the location of the oncoming battle. He left behind him a pair of more than slightly confused people. One of them even stopped what he was doing, while Kira's words kept echoing in his mind.

xxxxx

A sudden bump interrupted his pleasant nap, by jostling him in the jeep's seat. Walftield cracked his eyes open and inspected the surrounding view. The desert was pretty much the same. Sand, sand and more sand with an occasional pebble or hard lump of dirt for variety. Like the one that had interrupted his rest. The same scene stretched in all directions seemingly forever. Endless, huge, limitless. Of course that was to be expected since they were supposed to be in one of the biggest deserts on Earth. Many people avoided deserts like plague, but not Waltfield. For him the desert was just as attractive as any resort on Earth or PLANTs. Never mind the hostile environment; all it took were some preparations and certain knowledge to counter.

When asked, he had never been able to answer why he liked the desert so much. Even after all this time spent in it, he didn't have a clear answer. Mostly it was the size that always captivated him. The sense of freedom and wildness it represented. Deserts were one of the few types of terrain, if not the only one, humans had practically no control over. Unlike in PLANTs where weather was controlled, measured and regulated down to the tiniest details. Furthermore PLANTs were nowhere near as spacious as a desert. Two continents, 10 kilometers in diameter, it paled in comparison to what he was seeing now. Yeah, it was definitely the size that held him here.

He stretched his back and caught a warm breeze on his face. And they said the desert was inhospitable. There were plenty of hospitability for everyone; you just had to know where to look. Enjoying the occasional breeze by riding a jeep ahead of a Mobile Suit column was one way to enjoy life. He almost pitied the BuCue pilots. Sure, they were safe inside their machines, not having a single grain of sand inside, delighting in the pleasurable atmosphere, created by the climate control system. However, it was far too artificial for his taste. As for the climate control, Waltfield tried to avoid it as much as possible. Many pilots had succumbed to heat strokes when leaving the cockpits and exposing themselves to the intense heat, after having grown accustomed to the coolness inside. In some ways it was very embarrassing. It was one thing to be wounded during an intense fight; a completely different thing was going to the hospital just because you couldn't stand the heat.

He yawned and was about to slip back into a comfortable nap, when his aide noticed that his Commander was awake and used the opportunity to ask a couple of questions which were burning on his tongue. "Sir, I'm sorry to bother you, but shouldn't we be moving faster?"

Waltfield glanced at his aide and arched his eyebrows. "Why? Are you afraid of being attacked or do you have some business to take care of?" He paused for a moment and continued with a wide grin. "Come on. Ask what you're really concerned about."

DaCosta sighed as he composed his answer. "It's the attack, sir. I don't understand why we had to something so pointless. I mean that village was a perfect bait to lure out the Desert Dawn." A surprised grunt from Waltfield's direction made him throw a quick glance in his direction. Waltgfield was staring at him with a shocked expression.

"I hope you didn't mean that. There's no way I would do something so cheap. If I really wanted to cause them suffering I would have sent them a crate of instant coffee." He shrugged slightly at the mention of the foul substance. "No, the reason why we burned down Tassil was to send them a message. A warning actually. All that horseplay last night went too far. From now on they will know, if they intervene in my plans, punishment will follow." DaCosta considered that.

"Still, I think it was a bit too much." He sighed and glanced in the mirror. "I still think we should hurry up. What if they decide to come after us? Our Mobile Suits spent a lot of ammo during the attack and we're awfully exposed here."

"Relax. There's no way they'll come after us." Waltfield waved it off. "Sahib isn't an idiot; he wouldn't do something so stupid, like attacking a group of BuCues." He barely managed to finish his sentence, when, as if summoned by his words, a warning came from one of the pilots trough the jeep's radio.

"Sir, I have several contacts on radar ... Approximately ten of them ... Moving at high speed towards us. Looks like the resistance's combat vehicles."

"Okay … I stand corrected." Walftield mumbled slowly and gestured to DaCosta to move faster. It was about time. They could already hear the roar of supercharged engines approaching. Seconds later the first jeeps appeared on top of the nearest ridge and soon after, they began their attack.

xxxxx

Cagalli took careful aim at the jeep in front of the enemy group. She aimed the rocket launcher at the jeep because she was certain the Desert Tiger was in it. If they could kill him, then ZAFT forces in this area would be left practically headless. Such an opportunity was too good to miss. In more ways than one. Once the target was in sights, Cagalli adjusted her aim a little, since the target was moving, just like she was and fired. Almost immediately she knew she'd missed. The anti-armor weapons they had were from the cheap and outdated sort. While it could blow up a weak target like a car, its accuracy over long distances was bad.

During the first second after the launch, while the rocket covered the first two hundred meters, everything seemed fine. Sure it looked like a near hit, rather than a direct one, but it still was potentially deadly. Then everything went wrong. The rocket veered off, its trajectory became chaotic and two seconds after the launch, the anti-armor rocket blew a pleasant, large hole, which was, unpleasantly far away from the intended target.

Others tried their luck as well, firing their rocket launchers as soon as they could aim them, but achieved similar results. The damned jeep stayed well out of the harmful range of the warheads going off all around it, whether it was due to the skill of the driver or anything else, was debatable. One thing was certain, a different approach was needed.

Cagalli reached for another rocket launcher, since most of them were single use only, and spotted one of the jeeps, equipped with a missile launcher, take a shot at the target. Chances of a hit were very high. Unlike the unguided rockets, missiles could be locked on a target and that meant … Cagalli followed the missile with her eyes, expecting it to be the end of the Tiger, when a BuCue intervened. The blue Mobile Suit moved in the path of the missile and took the shot meant for the Commander. The explosion was impressive, but the results weren't. After the smoke cleared, the BuCue was still standing. A black spot marked the location where it had been hit.

Before the Mobile Suit could move, Cagalli fired again and succeeded in hitting the machine's head. Though it did little damage, it temporarily blinded the pilot and allowed them to get off a few more shots, bringing the BuCue down on its side with two of its leg joints jammed. Courtesy of multiple impacts to the legs. Cagalli let out a victorious laugh, but a loud thud cut her short and forced her to realize that there were other Mobile Suits nearby and they had just went on the offensive.

As always, Desert Dawn's vehicles broke their formation and scattered. Forcing the enemy to hunt them down one by one and allowing others to take potshots at the Mobile Suit while it was busy chasing one of them. However, for all their size and weight, the BuCues could easily keep up with the small and nimble targets. Not bothering to use their weapons, ZAFT pilots decided to deal with the enemy by using Mobile Suits themselves.

One BuCue leapt into the air, over a group of hastily aimed rockets, and transformed into the tank mode. A second later it landed right on top of a pair of jeeps, crushing them and their occupants into the ground. Afterwards it proceeded to chase after the nearest pair and used its speed and threads to horrifying results. The unfortunate soldiers letting out chilling screams before they were crushed.

The other pilot took a similar and a bit more sadistic approach. He allowed his targets to take several, fruitless shots at his Mobile Suit, as they desperately tried to escape. For a while it seemed to be the most likely outcome for the three people being pursued, but to any other observer it was obvious the BuCue was toying with them. Once the distance between the jeep and the BuCue had increased to a seemingly safe level, the Mobile Suit leaped after its target and landed with the same results as his comrade had earlier.

"Cagalli, let's take care of that bastard." Ahmed gritted trough teeth and steered the jeep towards the BuCue. Cagalli and Kisaka, also enraged beyond words didn't reply. They simply nodded and prepared a new pair of rocket launchers. "I'll try to get under him, where the armor should be the weakest." Ahmed gunned the jeep even faster. "Don't shoot before that. It doesn't look like he's seen us." His words were true. The enemy pilot was so busy hunting down Sahib, he didn't notice them until it was too late. The threat board's beep warned him only a fraction of a second before the rockets hit.

Cagalli knew they had this one down. There was no way the bastard could escape now. The distance was too short to even consider dodging. Also, unlike other Mobile Suits, BuCue's chest was one of the least protected parts. Even an outdated rocket like theirs could punch trough the armor it was fired against. All things pointed to a severely damaged, if not destroyed, BuCue. However, not everything went as expected.

They got their shots off. That much was clear. The size and distance meant that there was absolutely no way to miss. That was also obvious. The only things that didn't happen as they should have were, once again, the rockets. Cagalli's rocket turned out to be a dud. The warhead's detonator failed to detonate and the defected charge simply fell on the ground, detonating several hours after the battle was over.

The second rocked wasn't a dud. It worked perfectly. Except for the fact that it struck one of the sloped sections of the armor, causing the rocket to fumble and project it's devastating contents in a less harmful direction. Granted, the explosion was spectacular nonetheless. The pilot was more than slightly unnerved by the unexpected and potentially deadly attack. Unfortunately, since the attack failed to produce more than surface damage on the BuCue's armor, the enemy was free to seek revenge.

"Shit. Go! NOW!" Cagalli heard Kisaka cry seconds after they realized how ineffective their attempt was. Cagalli was startled to hear a great deal of fear in her bodyguard's voice. And there was a good reason for it. With the surprise gone, the jeep was at the mercy of the Mobile Suit above them and Cagalli was certain the pilot wasn't feeling merciful at all.

Cagalli frantically reached for one of the few remaining rocket launchers, her plan was to attempt to hit the machine's head, to blind the pilot and give them time to escape, if nothing else. At the same time Ahmed forced everything out of the car's engine, edging them away out of danger with every moment. Cagalli was still at the reaching part when Kisaka yelled something she couldn't quite discern. Immediately she felt two, strong arms grad and pull her in a protective embrace. What followed after was something she couldn't remember completely no matter how hard she later tired.

She definitely remembered being pulled out of the jeep by Kisaka. The next thing she recalled was seeing the BuCue's front leg crush the jeep with a sweeping attack. Whether Ahmed was still inside, she had no idea. Then came the landing. It wasn't as hard as she had feared. Kisaka absorbed most of the impact with nothing more than a slight grunt. A pair of explosions went off somewhere above her, followed by a loud clank of several sets of threads. Cagalli realized the clanking sound was moving away from them. _He probably thinks we're all dead … Ahmed!_ The sudden thought restored control over her body and she risked a look around.

Unsurprisingly she was laying face first on the ground. With Kisaka mostly on top of her, shielding her from any additional harm, but not crushing her either. The BuCue was gone, chasing one of the jeeps that had caught its pilot's attention. Their jeep was nothing more than scrap. Shattered pieces lying all over the surrounding area. "Ahmed!" Cagalli spotted a familiar shape among the remains. "Ahmed!" She called again and struggled to her feet. Seeing no imminent danger, Kisaka let her go and stood up as well. By that time Cagalli was already running towards the wounded boy.

Even from a distance it was obvious Ahmed was injured. His left arm trapped beneath him, bent in an unnatural direction. Several pieces of jagged metal were stuck in his right thigh, while dark stains grew on the clothing surrounding them. Similar stains were expanding on his shirt as well, leaving the entire right side covered in blood. Cagalli felt her heart drop. "Damn! No! No! NO! … Ahmed!" She knelt by his side and propped him up on one knee, bringing him in what she assumed was a more comfortable position.

"Cag-alli." Ahmed gurgled and tried to smile reassuringly. "It's … ha-hard to …" The voice died in his throat as he coughed and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. Cagalli watched the blood, color drained from her face and her hands trembling.

"Don't talk … we'll help you." Her voice quavered. "Just … just don't talk. Kisaka! We we have to…"

"We can't." Kisaka cut her off. A quick glance was enough for him to realize that there was no way to save Ahmed. His left arm was broken, there were multiple lacerations on his right leg and probably right side as well. The intense bleeding from the sides and mouth didn't make things any better. Especially if Ahmed was bleeding from the mouth. It meant the blood had gotten into the respiratory system and his lungs were filling with blood already. "There's nothing we can't do for him. We don't have any supplies and he'll be dead by the time we get him back to the camp." He explained in a low voice, utterly void of any emotions as his professionalism took over.

"What? What do you mean?" Cagalli stared at him for several seconds, unable to grasp what she had heard. Was she supposed to leave him to die!? Watch him suffer and die? "We can't … We must help him!" Cagalli embraced the wounded boy, when the thought of losing a friend proved too much for her.

"Cag… alli … I … I … want- wanted to …" Ahmed struggled in a weak voice, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't muster the strength. The nauseating taste of blood filled his mouth to the point he couldn't even breathe. In fact Ahmed faintly realized that he was actually drowning in his own blood, unable to draw a single breath. Still, he fought the pain and the nauseating lightheadedness. He had something very important to say. Something he wanted to say for a long time.

He tried to reach her, to touch her beautiful face. But he couldn't. The cold which spread through his body robbed him of the ability to move. He wanted to see her, but couldn't. His eyes unfocused, making his vision blurred and unclear. His voice was the only thing had for now and even then, the ability to speak was diminishing, just like his life. "Cagalli … Cag … Cag …"

"Ahmed! Wake up!" Cagalli cried trough her tears and even shook him, but there was no answer. "Ahmed, don't … don't. Wake up! AHMED!" She stared at her now dead friend with shocked eyes. Ahmed was gone, dead. Her rational side fully realized the fact, but her heart couldn't accept this. She shrugged off Kisaka's hand from her shoulder. This couldn't be happening. No way. Not to people she knew and cared about.

"We have to go." Kisaka put his hand on her shoulder again. This time his grip was stronger, more insisting. "We are in danger if we stay here."

"We can't leave him. If we do…" Cagalli's protest was cut short by a low buzz of the beam rifle's discharge. They both looked in the direction of the sound and saw the Strike entering the battlefield and firing the beam rifle to prevent the nearest BuCue from destroying the jeep it was pursuing.

xxxxx

Despite the lock, the beam missed. Scaring, instead of killing the ZAFT pilot. Kira frowned at the unexpected event and fired again, only to witness the same results. Keeping an eye on the enemies, he threw a quick glance at the displays. Everything seemed to be functioning perfectly, so why couldn't he hit the target? _It's because of the heat! _The thought hit him when his eyes fell on the outside temperature readings. _The desert's heat convection is affecting the beam. _He once again realized the need for adjusting the Strike's performance. Compared to the near-full OS reprogramming he had to do yesterday, correcting the targeting system was nothing.

"There. Done." Kira murmured and put away the keyboard. The whole process lasting barely more than few seconds. Kicking off from the ground where he had landed to make his modifications, Kira took another aim at the nearby BuCue. This time the beam didn't miss. The shot blew off the missile pack and left the BuCue almost harmless. He spun around, just in time to take several missiles on the shield. "One … Three units … One of them can't move. Heh, this'll be easy." And for the first time he felt a slight rush of excitement as he went on the attack.

xxxxx

"He's using different equipment than yesterday." Walftield commented the changes he saw on the Strike. "Lots of thrusters … Light weaponry and an impressive compensation for the heat convection. Our friend is learning fast." He lowered the binoculars, revealing the impressed grin on his face. This foe turned out to be a very promising one. It was a while since he had been presented with a challenge like this. Now if only he could… His eyes fell on the disabled BuCue nearby. _Excellent. _Waltfield grabbed the radio and addressed the BuCue's pilot. "Kakudo. Can you get your BuCue to move again?"

"One moment, sir. Almost got it…" The pilot replied, adjusting the power settings on the jammed leg's servomotors. He tried again and was relieved to see the leg move again. The lack of mobility cured by using the servomotors to force the joint moving through sheer power. The jammed parts, jumping back into their places with a loud clang. "Got it. Don't worry sir; we'll take care of that bastard." However, the following words brought a confused expression on his face.

"I want you to disengage from the BuCue. I'll board it."

"Sir?" Dacosta and the pilot asked in perfect unison. Waltfield just smirked and put down the radio.

"Sometimes, if you want to learn more about a person, you have to fight him." He replied mysteriously and jumped out of the vehicle. "And I'm eager to learn all sorts of things about him." He spared another glance at the Strike and hastened his pace towards the BuCue.

xxxxx

From his position in the air, it was easy to separate the BuCue from the resistance's jeeps. Once the survivors were safe, Kira prepared for a more precise shot. His current target, the only BuCue still posing danger to him with the missile pack, strafed erratically to avoid getting shot, a wasted attempt, by Kira's opinion. He was about to pull the trigger when Strike detected an incoming hostile. The unarmed BuCue. After sensing his comrade's predicament, its pilot had elected to try to knock the bastard out of the sky with a powerful body slam.

Kira turned to face the new opponent and instead of shooting it. He slammed the Mobile Suit aside with the Strike's shield. The heavy blow sent the BuCue falling to the ground below, its underside unprotected and exposed. Not wanting to let such an opportunity pass, Kira turned the rifle towards the falling foe. However, for the second time today a foe he'd previously assumed to be harmless managed to thwart his plans.

A pair of missiles exploded against the Strike's chest, though most of their effects were negated by the PS armor, the force of the explosions was enough to knock the Mobile Suit out of the sky. Once on the ground Kira gritted his teeth when a few more missiles shook the Strike. "It can still move? So it's three against one." Kira read the information from the display. He looked up and barely had the time to interpose the shield between the Strike and a new salvo of missiles.

Being pushed on the defensive, Kira could do little to prevent the three enemy machines from forming up into an inverted wedge formation before charging at him. Two blows, with a few seconds in between knocked the Strike back a couple of steps, right into the path of the third BuCue who almost knocked the Strike on its back as it passed. Before Kira could recover, he saw that the BuCues had turned around and were attacking him again. He tried to take it to the skies, but didn't get higher than few meters before the lead BuCue leapt at him. His startled CIWS burst missed wide and allowed the Strike to be sent falling once again. Still using the temporary advantage of height the enemy fired another missile salvo to strengthen the upcoming impact with the ground.

Maneuvering with his thrusters Kira manage to turn the Strike's fall into a somewhat stable flight. He even managed to avoid being hit directly. The missiles exploded around him, shaking the Strike with numerous blast waves. Still, it was far from over. The enemy had regrouped during his fall and were charging him at full speed. More missiles were fired at him, obviously the enemy's plan was to keep hammering the Strike with its missiles in order to drain the battery much faster, since every blow took a noticeable bait out of the power level as the PS armor fought to prevent the damage. Kira couldn't allow this to continue. He had to finish this fight.

With every time it became easier. Just like a muscle became stronger every time it was strained, so did Kira found it easier to reach inside himself and removing the invisible barrier in his mind. Like water from a dam, a wave of energy burst from somewhere within. Once again the purple jewel struck the last barrier and exploded, filling him with fresh strength and removing any stray thoughts.

With his pupils washed out and practically bristling with the strange energy, Kira regarded the incoming missiles with a calm and emotionless look. Instead of avoiding them, Kira started a charge of his own, blindly rushing towards the doom. Or so it seemed. Shortly before the missiles were upon him, he flipped the Strike in a quick backflip. A wave of heated sand consumed the missiles and the following detonation only served to further increase the improvised dust cover.

With the initiative on his side, Kira continued the trajectory and emerged from the cloud, almost face to face with the BuCues. Just about as both groups collided with potentially damaging results to both sides, The Strike jerked roughly to the side, hurling its shield at the nearest Mobile Suit at the same time. The pilot didn't even see it coming and crashed into the massive armor plate. The rest of the formation scattered, leaving the unfortunate BuCue alone.

Moving at almost top speed, Kira dropped the Strike on the ground and spun around. The Strike's legs carving a long trench in sand as the friction slowed it down. Once he was facing the enemy again, Kira aimed the rifle and with a short burst of beam fire destroyed the still-recovering BuCue. With one enemy down he focused his attention on the remaining ones.

The lead BuCue, who had previously been partially disabled by Desert Dawn, regarded him cautiously. Whoever, the pilot was, Kira had to admit, the guy knew his way around the cockpit and was easily capable of causing all sorts of trouble for him. At least when Kira wasn't using the strange ability. Now, when filled by this power, Kira realized that performing the most difficult and impossible maneuvers were almost like second nature. High speed attacks slowed down to a crawl, technical problems were laughably easy to figure out. It was just that simple. He couldn't lose. There was no way. It was impossible. Apparently, his opponent didn't think so. The BuCue's threads groaned and whined as the Mobile Suit suddenly blitzed towards the Strike.

A few calculations told Kira that the enemy was either out of missiles or only had few of them left. Therefore he was certain the BuCue would ram him as it passed. Since physical blows also took their share of energy from the battery, Kira figured that the enemy had decided to use such attacks to deplete the battery and then use the remaining missiles to finish the job. He had to admit, the plan was good, especially since these BuCues didn't have beam sabers like the ones yesterday.

Kira brought the Strike fully upright and began a steady run towards the oncoming Mobile Suit. He frowned in concentration. This wasn't going to be easy. He had to time it just right. Too soon and the enemy would have time to evade. Too late and the blow carried enough potential to nearly empty the remaining energy. At the last moment, he dropped the Strike on its knees and leaned slightly to the right. Out of the BuCue's way. The empty left arm reached for the beam saber behind the shoulder and a second lately came down in a lightning quick slash of pink light.

As it turned out he had made the attack a few moments too soon. The BuCue was able to dodge most of the damage. Losing its front left leg and a portion of the left wing, instead of being sliced in half lengthwise. The severed limb fell on the ground, oil and lubricants dripping from it like dark blood. The damaged Mobile Suit's pilot instantly withdrew; using the only opportunity Kira gave him to escape. Whoever the pilot was, Kira was certain the guy was either the one in charge of Mobile Suits or the Desert Tiger himself, since the remaining BuCue, as well as the two jeeps he saw far away, also retreated, falling in behind the Mobile Suit he had nearly destroyed.

Kira watched the remaining enemies retreat. He could pursue and destroy them. With their numbers and ammunition depleted, one machine severely damaged there was little they could do to stop him if he chose to wipe them out. A small voice in his mind argued that allowing the Desert Tiger to escape would bring more trouble in the future. Kira couldn't deny that. It would be foolish to think that their enemies would leave them alone. Killing the Commander now would seriously impede ZAFT forces in the area. For a moment Kira nearly gave in to the urge to kill, but in the end he refrained himself from doing so.

With a deep, slow breath he closed his eyes, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over him. Strength, filling his body, suddenly vanished, absorbed somewhere deep inside his body. The same thing happened to his mind. The crystal clear calculations shattered, as a tide of emotions and thoughts surged inside, returning the familiar feeling in his mind. It was like waking up from a dream. A very real, yet somehow detached dream.

xxxxx

Using the cable to leave the Strike, Kira came face to face with the survivors. Unsurprisingly there weren't many of them. Even though it pained Kira to see so many people getting killed, he couldn't dismiss the logic of the situation. Attacking Mobile Suits with outdated handheld weaponry was suicide. Madness. Little wonder they were crushed so easily. If it weren't for him, they would all be dead. Victims of hastily made decisions and lack of common sense.

He removed his helmet and regarded the silent crowd with a neutral expression. "Was it worth it?" His words made several of them flinch. Bad enough to realize how stupid their choice had been, it was even worse to be lectured by a teenager. "Dying like dogs with no good reason … How was it?" Several looks turned angry. Sure, they had made a mistake, but that was no reason to rub it in some more. One look in particular was more than angry. Cagalli's amber yellow eyes glared at him.

"What did you say?" She approached him and grabbed Kira by his suit's collar. "You want to know how it was? … Look! You bastard!" She yelled at him and pointed towards where several recovered bodies were placed on improvised stretchers, Ahmed's body among them. "Everyone fought bravely. We're fighting for everything we hold dear. And you say we have no reason we…" Kira's sudden backhand cut her short. She pressed her palm against the stinging spot and looked at him incredulously.

"What the hell are you trying to achieve with just this!?" Kira snapped and observed the people nearby. His anger increased when he realized they all believed her. Led to false assumptions by mere words and unchecked emotions. "What are you trying to protect with emotions alone? Just because you believe in your cause or let your emotions guide you won't let you protect anything!"

Kira ignored the shocked looks many people were giving him and turned to Sahib. The man looked to be the least affected by Cagalli's words. In fact he looked like he had already anticipated this outcome. His features grim, but resolved as he counted their losses. Desert Dawn had had a major setback this day. Eleven people dead and nothing to show for it. The only casualty on ZAFT's side was the lone BuCue now burning further ahead. Even then, in spite of their efforts it had been the Strike's kill, not theirs. It wasn't until Kira cleared his throat audibly, did Sahib realize the boy was standing next to him. Sahib shook the unpleasant thoughts away and took a deep breath. "What is it? Come to lecture me as well?"

"No. I wanted to tell you, that I passed some of your tanks on my way here. They'll soon be here." Kira's voice was drained from the previous anger. It was obvious to him that Sahib wasn't the one who ordered the attack. Judging from the reports he received from Mu, Sahib had actually been the one who tried to convince some of the more hotheaded fighters not to attack. No, Kira had absolutely nothing to lecture him about.

"I see. Good." Sahib nodded several times. "Everyone! Reinforcements will be here soon! I want all of you to check the wrecks and gather everything we can use again. Be on the lookout for anyone we might have missed. I'd hate to leave people behind." He ordered the uninjured fighters with a restored strength in his voice. His eyes again fell on the dead bodies for a moment. And just like at Tassil, he felt his resolve increasing. No, they would not leave this lying down!

xxxxx

The attack came out of nowhere. One moment the BuCue was idly walking ahead of the squad as they strode through the morning desert, searching for the rumored Desert Dawn, the other moment a large explosion tore the machine in half. What was left, were the front and end sections with the section between the front and rear legs gone. The two pieces were thrown in opposite directions, flying for almost twenty meters before finally landing on the ground. A trail of smoke rose from the wreckage, as flammable fluids and parts caught fire. Soon after, the GINN, nearest to the destroyed BuCue, staggered under repeated impacts, small explosions crawling across its chest, blowing numerous holes in the armor and sending pieces of metal flying in every direction. Two seconds later, the GINN sagged and eventually collapsed to the ground, most of its body holed by the unknown attacker's weapon.

"What the hell is happening!? Who's attacking us!?" The leader of the squad swung his GINN around, trying to locate the attacker. The rest of his squad, three additional GINNs and one BuCue, sought whatever cover the few, nearby dunes could provide.

"Sir, over there!" A young pilot was the first one to saw a dark silhouette in the distance. "What the hell is that thing!?" Others looked in the direction their comrade's GINN was aiming its machinegun and let out a chorus of gasps. Crouched on one knee, four hundred meters from them, they saw the strangest Mobile Suit they had ever seen. As if feeling the shocked stares they were giving him, the enemy pilot brought his machine fully upright, giving everyone a good look at it as they magnified the image on their main displays.

Roughly seventeen meters tall, the machine was a veritable dwarf when compared to a GINN. The body looked unusually big when compared to the rather thin arms and narrow shoulders. The head of the machine was roughly shaped like an "X". Four bright red camera eyes, one on each arm of the X, glared at them. The machine itself was painted black and gray, designed to look like slag or hardened lava. However, the machine's right arm was a mixture of red, orange and yellow colors, giving the appearance of it being on fire.

Their gazes quickly shifted from the machine to the various weapons it was carrying. The right arm held what many assumed was its primary weapon. A bulky weapon, ending with three barrels, clustered in a triangle, with one, large canister protruding from either side of the weapon, while two more were attached to the underside. Clutched in the left hand was some kind of long barreled cannon with a large, boxy magazine on top of it. A sudden movement focused their attention on what they suspected to be the rapid fire weapon used to take out the unfortunate GINN. The weapon folded its barrel in half and came to rest behind the right shoulder. Finally the left shoulder partially obscured the view of another weapon, this one being much smaller when compared to the previous weapons, though what it could do was anyone's guess.

xxxxx

Raiko felt he had given them enough time to look at him. He had a job to do after all. It was about time already. The enemy broke out of the trance and opened fire from their machineguns, leveling the dune he had been using as firing position. However, the Arsonist had left it before any shells could reach it. Sliding across the desert sand, like a skater on ice. He sped towards the five enemies, dancing around their fire as they tried to prevent him from reaching their position.

When he had covered half the distance he returned fire from his 155mm grenade launcher. Though there was no difference between his grenade launcher and the back mounted cannon, the handheld versions were called grenade launchers for simplicity's sake. The high explosive shell, struck the sand hill two of the so-called Mobile Suits were ducking behind, and ended its existence with an impressive detonation. Sending the two GINNs sprawling to the ground. The next shell almost took out the GINN who seemed to be in charge, but the pilot reacted by throwing his Mobile Suit to the side in a clumsy dodge. Raiko was impressed, these Mobile Suits were not only larger than any AC ever built, but they were a lot faster than they looked. He had to be careful. Underestimating the enemy never paid off.

Another surprise came in the form of a BuCue, jumping out of the dust cloud the Arsonist's grenade launcher had created, and blitzing towards the dark AC, both railguns spitting rounds as fast as they could. Taking off some attention from the stunned GINNs and their chaotic attempts of hitting him, Raiko turned the Arsonist to face the BuCue.

Now moving backwards, he activated the 70mm laser cannon. The weapon behind the left shoulder perked up and fired a red beam, cutting the air above the BuCue. The next beam clipped off the railgun assembly, while the third one cut off both of the front legs. With the loss of half the supports, the BuCue tumbled to the ground, leaving a wide furrow as it skid to a halt. The pilot barely had time to recover when a hail of 90mm shells from the Arsonist's back mounted autocannon blew the machine to scrap.

His threat board let out a peep. "Oh, crap!" While his attention was more or less focused on the fast Mobile Suit, the other four had decided to rush him. Firing their machineguns and brandishing huge, metal swords, they ran towards the Arsonist as fast as they could. Their continuous barrages, cutting down his escape paths one by one.

A hail of machinegun shells struck his AC just as he was about to return fire with his grenade launcher. Though the shells did little damage, either leaving small dents or ricocheting away from the armor, the combined impacts were enough to ruin his aim. Instead of taking out the nearest GINN, the shell impacted the ground. The resulting explosion did knock the enemy down, but it didn't destroy it. Others continued to press on, pouring fire on the Arsonist, preventing him from running away.

One GINN was only a few steps away from the Arsonist, raising the combat sword to cleave the AC in two. "You'd want that wouldn't you?" Raiko announced trough the Arsonist's speakers. "This is why my AC is called the Arsonist." He leveled the right hand weapon at the GINN and let loose an orange cone of plasma.

The weapon was called the flamethrower only because it worked in a similar way, not because it fired a napalm based mixture at the enemy. Unless the stuff got into vents of other critical locations, napalm wasn't the most lethal substance for an armored target such as a Mobile Suit. Instead, the weapon fired a cone of plasmatic gas. The weapon was useful in short ranges up to fifty or seventy meters, since unshielded plasma dissipated very quickly. However, in these distances, this was perhaps the most brutal weapon available. Another bonus was that this weapon was just as lethal in space, perhaps even more, since plasma didn't dissipate as fast as it did in the atmosphere.

Dousing the GINN with the plasma was just like pouring a stream of boiling water onto an ice sculpture. The GINN slowed down, its joints jamming as the heated metal expanded and eventually melted. The right hand and most of the Mobile Suit's right side was crippled by an explosion when the remaining ammunition cooked off. The GINN staggered forward and collapsed, slowly turning into a pile of molten metal. Fortunately, the pilot had already passed out from the thermal shock and barely felt anything when he was turned into a charred skeleton.

Raiko let out a mad laugh and hosed down another GINN who had stepped in too close. At the same time, he blew away the Mobile Suit which had tried to come at him from his left side, with a direct hit from the grenade launcher.

The last surviving GINN was hidden from him by the black smoke rising from the burning machines, but it didn't matter. The panicked bursts from the other side of the cover told him where the Mobile Suit was supposed to be. Moving sideways, around the smoke, the Arsonist aimed all of its weapons at the approximate location and let loose. The two grenade rounds cleared two holes in the smoke cloud as they shot through, followed by several smaller ones from the autocannon bursts. The laser beam cut through the cover as it wasn't even there, while the plasma cone made the smoke even thicker.

Raiko's laughter died when both hand weapons stopped firing. He looked at the status screen and frowned. He had gotten carried away. The grenade launcher had exhausted its ammunition supply, whereas the flamethrower had shut down due to overheating. "Damn. Every time I get some fun, this happens." He shook his head in frustration and dropped the empty grenade launcher.

He checked the sensor readings, and was impressed to see the single remaining GINN, running away from him. With the right hand missing from elbow and down and a black scar stretching from the place where its head had been, across the body, ending at the very edge of the chest, at the same level with the elbow stump. A courtesy from the Arsonist's laser cannon. Raiko debated letting this guy go, but his orders were clear. Find a group of Mobile Suits and destroy them. There wasn't mentioned anything about survivors. Oh, well, it was only business.

He activated his boosters and darted after the last survivor. The speed with which he moved was high enough to catch up with the GINN in a couple of seconds. The damaged Mobile Suit stopped suddenly and turned towards him, the left arm coming around in a lighting quick slash, which might have been dangerous to the Arsonist. Even though the AC's armor was easily capable of absorbing this kind of a punishment with ease, the force of the impact could be … unpleasant.

Ducking under the slash, the Arsonist slid past the GINN, coming to a halt right behind it. The Mobile Suit started to turn around, but Raiko had no intention of allowing that. The left AC's left forearm hissed and released a bright orange laser blade. Though shorter than standard versions, making it more like a knife than a sword, the blade was no less effective.

The GINN's left hand fell on the ground after a quick slice from the Arsonist. A second later, several wounds opened up on the Mobile Suit's chest as the AC made several thrusts, mercilessly hunting for the cockpit. After the sixth attempt his search bore fruit. The GINN stopped its pathetic attempts at warding off the AC with the stumps of its arms and froze.

Raiko observed the towering statue, only then realizing how big the damned Mobile Suit was. His AC was just barely at the GINN's chest level. This wasn't what he was used to. Back on Utopia ACs were the big guys. Dwarfing the mass produced Muscle Tracers like giants among lesser people. Yet here, the ACs were being dwarfed. At least when it came to size. When it came to weapons, he backed the Arsonist away a bit and fired a short puff from the flamethrower just enough to put the GINN on fire and take care of the pilot, Raiko was certain that AC's would be on top of the food chain.

In some ways he was right. In some ways he was wrong. Very wrong. As it eventually turned out ACs weren't the only monsters around.


	19. Four kings

Garon Kelly stared at his open palm where a raindrop had landed. Soon, another one joined it, while millions of other raindrops splashed on the tarmac or any other surface around him. Overhead the gray mass of clouds continued leaking its condensed contents like a leaky bucket. Somewhere in the distance thunder rumbled, signaling the presence of a thunderstorm. Fortunately, they had missed the worst of it; the raindrops pelting him and the shuttle behind him were nothing more than last accords of a fierce symphony.

It wasn't like it was his first time seeing thunderstorm; he had witnessed a great deal of them in Layered, back on Utopia. The weather control systems sometimes took great care not to let them forget, that nature, even an artificial one, sometimes was a bitch. If the need be the system could arrange a violent storm, followed by a chilling frost and throwing in a drought for flavor. Luckily such things never happened, there were safety systems for that.

Layered, the first and largest city on Utopia was actually more than a simple city. In fact, if someone were to look at the city, they wouldn't see much of it. A couple of buildings, a warehouse complex, few airfields and that's all. The reason was simple; the entire city was built underground. Just like its name suggested, the city consisted of several layers, connected to the central elevator shaft. Each layer was further divided into sections. The whole city was a marvel of engineering, a self sustaining city deep underground, capable of housing millions of people. Supplying them with everything, food, shelter, luxuries and everything else one could crave for.

Then came the war and everything collapsed. In just a few hours many layers were wiped clean of life. Those few sections which were under construction or weren't hardwired into the main computer network became isolated pieces of humanity, while the cities above the ground were left to survive on their limited resources. All because of some project; all because The Controller had decided to start anew. Naturally the Utopians fought back. However, their retaliation had been too heavy handed. Using the destructive aspects of fusion technology hurt the survivors more than The Controller. Eventually they won, while redefining Pyrrhic victory. Further life on Utopia was impossible and they had decided to leave.

Which eventually led him to his current situation. Descending down the stairway from the shuttle which had brought him from Circ-City to Earth. He pulled the coat tighter around his shoulders as a cold breeze threatened to chill him. It was one of his major discoveries. Unlike Utopia, which was basically a huge desert, Earth was a cold place. The air was more humid and had some sort of a funny smell to it. Garon was certain it had something to do with the pollution, or whatever that strange tinge came from.

Thinking about pollution, brought his mind on his upper, right arm, where a tiny, red spot was already healing. Unlike Circ-City, with its sterile atmosphere, Earth and PLANTs housed potentially deadly killers. Everyone, heading to PLANTs or Earth, had been injected with a special kind of chemical cocktail. The vaccine would boost the efficiency of his immunity system, allowing his body to counter almost any kind of infection that might have appeared on the Earth over the past few centuries. There was just one problem; the vaccine was only a temporary measure. It lost its effectiveness rather quickly and had a negative impact on the patient's immunity system if used multiple times. Lucky for them, Crest's scientists were already working on the list, supplied by Viktor, to make their own vaccines.

Garon stepped off the stairway and unhurriedly walked towards the small group waiting for his group. While crossing the tarmac, he made a quick look around. In front of him, separating his from another airstrip loomed one of the huge aircraft hangars, with four more on either side. While a similar row of hangars behind him acted as a border for the third airstrip. To his right, he could see several administrative buildings, sitting at the base of a mountain ridge. On his left, the southern part of the base, Garon saw the biggest building he had ever seen. While it wasn't much higher than the hangar in front of him, it was the size that made him stare. Unless he was seeing things, just one side of the building was at least five or six hundred meters long. Furthermore, the whole building looked like it was designed to serve merely as a hatch to a much larger room underground. Whatever it was housing, Garon was certain, that its contents were nothing to sneeze at.

He turned his head back and instantly spotted a familiar face. Viktor Nodokov, the man who had worked long and hard to make this meeting happen, stood in front of the group and looked at him with a serious, but at the same time, welcoming look. "Ahh, mister Kelly. It is good to see you again. Welcome to Bastion." Viktor shook his hand and hen directed Garon's attention to a man standing next to him. "Mister Kelly, I'd like you to meet Muruta Azrael, director of Blue Cosmos. He is the person who offered to take care of our part of the deal."

"Garon Kelly, director of Crest Industries. It's a pleasure to meet you." Garon introduced himself and scrutinized the other man. Judging by the look, three wasn't much about him. Average height, blond hair, blue eyes, dressed in a white business suit. However, there was one thing that gave Garon a second thought. A slight, barely noticeable aura of superiority and power rested in this man's features. He didn't act or pretend like that, but Garon's eyes definitely noticed it and made a mental note. This man was very powerful and held great influence. Of course that was to be expected, given what Viktor had told him about Blue Cosmos. However, it was one thing to hear about it and a completely different thing to see it with his own eyes.

"Likewise." Muruta shook his hand. A firm grip, Garon noted. "I'm certain Viktor told you a lot about Blue Cosmos and our willingness to cooperate."

"Yes, the information I received was more than enough to convince me that working with you is a good choice. However, there are some things I think we should discuss." Garon finished in a tone that wiped off the self-assured smile from Muruta's face. Admiringly, he recovered instantly.

"Of course. I should have expected this. May I suggest we move to more appropriate location? Standing out here in the wind isn't my preferred way of making future deals." Muruta suggested and gestured towards a white limo and several SUVs nearby.

Garon took a quick look at his aides and realized the thought behind this gesture. Muruta wanted to continue this conversation while en route to wherever they were going, by having his group separated he expected to cut Garon off from his aides and achieve a certain amount of psychological advantage. In short, it was a challenge.

"Okay, I certainly appreciate the suggestion. I wouldn't want to catch a cold while standing out here." A narrow smirk settled on Garon's lips as he accepted the challenge. If Muruta Azrael though he could easily intimidate the leader of one of the largest corporations, he was in for one hell of a surprise. "Please, lead the way."

xxxxx

"What do you mean, "we will have to wait"! Aren't they informed about my arrival?" Yoshirou imperiously banged his fist against his seat's armrest. The unfortunate aide gulped nervously and tried to explain the situation.

"Sir, I told them several times that our shuttle's landing clearance must take priority, but the pilots kept repeating that certain procedures must be followed."

"Obviously you didn't try hard enough." Yoshirou skewered her with a glance. His assistant sagged and looked to be barely holding back her tears. "You go back and tell them that Yoshirou Kisaragi demands to be granted highest priority landing clearance! … NOW!" He added when the assistant hesitated for a moment, probably trying to come up with another excuse. Realizing that no mercy would be given here, the woman nodded quickly and hurried towards the front of the shuttle.

Yoshirou followed her from his place near the window with his eyes and snorted indignantly. To think that he, Yoshirou Kisaragi, the leader of Kisaragi corporation would allow to be treated like this. Preposterous! He was far too important to be treated like a commoner. Some people simply refused to grasp the importance of the situation. Apparently the two pilots were part of that group. "This is the last time I allow these pilots the honor of piloting my shuttle." He made a note to request more appropriate pilots next time. Preferably people from his corporation.

"I'm sure they're simply not informed about the situation. Otherwise we would have landed already." A female voice came from the opposite row of seats and seemed to be reflecting his thoughts. "After all, this is the first time ZAFT has been given the opportunity to serve Kisaragi."

The voice belonged to another of Yoshirou's assistants. However, unlike the previous one, this woman was far from an insignificant servant. Quite the opposite, Lana Nielen was the only person to whom Yoshirou trusted, aside from his family. Slim and extremely fit, yet elegant and graceful. Dressed in dark blue business attire, with her black hair tied up in a practical bun, Lana looked a lot like a personal assistant. Especially with the rimless glasses in front of her grey eyes.

Yoshirou regarded his bodyguard and once again was forced to admit, she could truly look like a completely harmless secretary or inconsequential assistant whenever she wanted to. However, all it took was a single word from Yoshirou and Lana could break a man's neck in the blink of an eye. Raised from early childhood to serve as Yoshirou's right hand, Lana was capable to fulfill Yoshirou's will wherever he would require.

"Serve Kisaragi." Yoshirou tasted the words while looking out of the window. The shuttle he had practically commandeered was approaching its destination. Aprilius One, the capital of PLANTs. "That is only one of the things I have in mind. Mark my words Lana, this will mark the beginning of a new era for Kisaragi." However, his introspective plans suddenly vanished when the shuttle changed its heading and massive structures drifted into his view.

"Are those PLANTs? … They're huge!" He gasped at the sight of several structures filling his field of sight. He tried to count them, but he was forced to stop when more and more of the giant hourglasses became visible. "There are so many of them."

Lana ceased her work with her laptop and glanced out of the window. Though her expression didn't change even slightly, her face retaining the usual emotionless expression, deep inside she was impressed just as much as her master. "Yes, they truly are awe-inspiring. Judging from the information we received from Gabriel, there are about one hundred and twenty of these colonies. Gabriel was also very enthusiastic about their interior. He was certain you would enjoy spending your time on PLANTs." The woman stated and returned back to work.

Still looking at the blue structures, Yoshirou let out another snort. "After spending my time on that piece of junk, I'm certain anything would seem like a paradise." He shook his head at the memory. Circ-city was one of the most bizarre things he had ever seen in his life. The whole place was a mixture of extremes. Ultra modern life support systems and rusting bulkheads or highly advanced computer networks mixed in with a faulty power grid. Just what was whoever built Circ-City thinking was beyond him. Frankly, he never showed much interest in Circ-City, its sole purpose was to save them from Utopia and now when it was done, Yoshirou couldn't care less what happened to it … at least after a while. Circ-City still featured in his plans. After all, his family was still there, along with everything else that was Kisaragi. Several hundred scientists, employees and their families and a portion of Kisaragi's Muscle Tracers.

Getting them away from Circ-City required transport shuttles, places to live, warehouses for their resources and eventually new production plants if Kisaragi was to resume its operations. Despite Gabriel's assurances that PLANTs were willing to provide help for them, Yoshirou had decided to check everything in person. This decision would affect Kisaragi's future and far too important to be made without his presence, furthermore he had to pick a nice location. One couldn't run his corporation from shady slums.

The possible future of his corporation made Yoshirou think. What did fate had in store for Kisaragi? He absentmindedly touched the sovereign ring on his right hand; the golden ring's face displayed the corporation's symbol, a gold diamond shape on a black field. Its heavy weight a constant reminder of his duty.

Up until that day, no matter how much it chafed him, Kisaragi was always considered the weakest of the three corporations. Tough it had absorbed or eliminated many of its competitors on its way to the top. Eventually his corporation had hit a wall. A barrier which remained out of reach despite their best efforts. Or rather two barriers, Mirage and Crest. The two powerhouses had obtained enough influence to effectively control most of Utopia. Even under the rule of The Controller, these two wielded almost godlike power. After the fall of the said entity, their power expanded to seize control of almost everything. Therefore, when Kisaragi entered the arena, many expected the newcomer to vanish almost instantly.

However, it didn't happen. Despite the predictions, Yoshirou managed to establish his corporation as the third power on Utopia. Naturally this ascension didn't go peacefully. Blood was shed and many lives were lost, as Kisaragi marched towards its rightful destiny. Either trough assassinations or clever intrigues, Yoshirou's rule brought prosperity to Kisaragi. For Crest and Mirage his corporation was a major thorn in their sides. Not only did Kisaragi represent a new threat, it also showed everyone, that the two giants weren't invincible. As expected, many other people tried their luck as well, but their efforts were doomed to failure. Crest, Mirage and eventually Kisaragi tried their best to eliminate any future competitors. The message was clear; there would be only three major corporations. Anyone who wanted to turn the triangle into a square would be punished.

Despite Kisaragi's impressive rise to power, there was nowhere else to go. Despite being strong enough to crush all newcomers, Kisaragi didn't have the size or strength to take on the other big players. It was doomed to remain the new kid on the power block. In most cases it was a struggle only to survive. The war with the Controller, plus the constant raids and attacks from Crest and Mirage, put a serious strain on Kisaragi's limited resources. If not for that faithful day, when the last restraints were dropped and the planet was purged by nuclear fire, Yoshirou was certain; Kisaragi would have eventually been destroyed.

On that day Kisaragi turned out to be the most fortunate of all three corporations. Its small size of forces meant their losses were nothing compared to those of Crest and Mirage. One couldn't lose much if one didn't have much to begin with. For Yoshirou this day was even more fortunate when he had found out that their only losses were among expendable resources. All of the important people survived the devastation and continued with minimal damage to their capabilities and options.

When the war was over and the search for a way to survive was started, Yoshirou had found out something that was more than enough to further boost his competitive spirit. The conflicts, the Great Destruction and the eventual abandonment of Utopia had severely influenced the political power among the corporations. While Kisaragi was still the smallest of them, Yoshirou's corporation had something neither of its rivals had. The leadership and the core of the corporation were intact. This meant Kisaragi possessed the best chance of rapid recovery and if they managed to recover first, then…

"Kisaragi can rise to the top and crush those two beneath its heel and claim its rightful place." Yoshirou's voice was trembling with excitement as he silently whispered. One power above all. Something like that hadn't happened since the day The Controller broke down and began its genocidal campaign. However, the question remained, how would he achieve his goal?

Obviously the first thing he had to do was to get his corporation up and running again. The next step would be to secure a power base in PLANTs and then use the said power to crush everything that stood in his way. Furthermore he had to do it well before Mirage and Crest did the same. Yoshirou didn't believe in false dreams that Garon and Leon would leave him alone. No, they would be trying to do the same. It was only a question of time, who would recover first and then proceed to eliminate the remaining two?

Yoshirou had already devised a plan which would help him establish his power base. The plan was very simple – weapons industry. It had been proven time and again that making and selling weapons was one of the best ways to make money. _But what kind of weapons?_ Yoshirou stroked his chin. What kind of weapons would these people prefer?

He considered offering PLANTs to equip their army with the standard Enforcer type Muscle Tracers, but the idea died quickly. Enforcers, a twelve meter high and almost thirty ton heavy humanoid machine, armed with a 57mm machinegun and a five tube missile launcher for offense, while sporting a shield and relatively light armor, were considered nothing more than cannon fodder. They were only effective against other mass produced MTs. When put against an AC, it quickly turned into a one-sided slaughter.

_How about Armored Cores then?_ The thought faded away just as fast as the previous one. While incredibly effective and representing a giant leap in Muscle Tracer evolution, they were extremely expensive and difficult to make. It was a challenge enough to produce parts for those picky Ravens. No, putting those monsters on mass production would be equal to economic suicide. There had to be something else. Something between the two.

Slowly his thoughts changed their approach. If he couldn't bring Utopian weapons to Earth maybe he could do something else? Instead of wasting resources to introduce these people with something new, why not use something they were already familiar with? Yes, this seemed like a good idea. Take their weapons improve them and sell them back.

"Lana, I need your opinion on something." He recalled a couple of recordings and images from the Circ-City's external sensors. The woman perked up and looked at him expectantly. "Those machines these natives were piloting … Those Mobile … umm, Mobile Suits. What do you think about them?"

The woman seemed to be struggling to compose her answer. "Which opinion would you like?" She fought for time. Coming up with an answer for Yoshirou's question was hard, she didn't have much data on the Mobile Suits, therefore her information was made out of assumptions and guesses. A horrible base of information.

"Both."

"Personally, I'm impressed. I do feel slightly intimidated by their size and sheer number we saw. Also I am surprised by their existence as well, since according to our projections Earth's technology level shouldn't be so advanced to permit their existence. Of course, nearly all of our assumptions about Earth have been proved wrong since day one." She paused and switched towards the other opinion. Her voice becoming more analytical. "Professionally, I can't say much, since I haven't seen up close how they perform. Their size does give them some advantage however, despite their size and bulk they seem to be faster and more agile than they appear. Their bulk also suggests great amounts of armor, which leads me to believe that their armor technology might be lacking. Of course, the size could also be caused by bulky interior mechanisms, not heavy armor."

"As for weapons, at least those I could see, their armament does look sort of primitive. The magazines clearly indicate that their main weapon is projectile based, but I have no idea what it's capable of. The sword, while possessing the advantage of an extra joint, unlike our forearm mounted versions, doesn't impress me. It takes too long to equip, and by right hand only, since its position makes it uncomfortable for the other hand." Lana summed up and waited a moment for the words to register properly. "Please bear in mind, sir, that my opinions are based purely on observation and the few facts we've received from PLANT representatives."

Yoshirou nodded assent and almost even chuckled. Though he managed to prevent himself from acting so inappropriately for his position. If this was what Lana called poorly made observations and quick assumptions, then Yoshirou couldn't wait to hear a more detailed description. As for the information, he was certain Lana had practically figured out their capabilities. The woman had an eye for noticing little things and making accurate conclusions. Just one more answer he wanted to get from her. "Tell me, what do you think, how do these Mobile Suits stack up against our creations."

"My guess, the middle road. I'm sure they can rip our Muscle Tracers apart, no problem. However, ACs will do the same to them." Her answer was short and lacked the doubtfulness she had displayed earlier.

"I see. Thank you, Lana." Yoshirou glanced out the window once more. _So Mobile Suits are the middle road huh? Excellent! Just the thing I was looking for, something between ACs and MTs. _If only Lana new, she had practically decided Kisaragi's future. Once the corporation was back on its feet, Yoshirou would focus its might towards rooting out its competitors in that branch of industry. And then, then it would be Mirage's and Crest's turn.

xxxxx

The lights flickered and died, leaving Leon sitting in the near complete darkness, with the monitor as his only source of light. "What! Not again! It's the third time today." He tapped on his desk impatiently, waiting for the lights to come back on. At least it was a good thing his computer was running on batteries. "This is getting stupid. I'm one of most powerful men on this space station and I can't even get a decent light!" Whenever he was bothered by something or just all by himself Leon had developed a habit of talking to himself. It tended to make everything seem a little less problematic.

"Damn bastards. When I get my hands on those people who … oh, right. They're dead. Okay, when I get my hands on people related to people who built this thing I'll…" He tried to come up with a fitting punishment, but was spared when the lights came back on. "Oh, so they heard me, excellent." He chuckled and returned to his work, though his thoughts still revolved around Circ-City.

The meetings between Circ-City's leaders and Earth or PLANT representatives had resulted in an explanation for the power surges. It turned out that they were caused by N-jammers affecting the station's nuclear reactors. Though Circ-City was well outside the range where nuclear reactors stopped working entirely, they were still close enough to be affected by them. Currently, the plan was to move Circ-City to L3, or rather near it. To be able to completely leave their influence Circ-City had to be moved just beyond the border of gravitational stability area. Fortunately, unlike other space structures, Circ-City had its own propulsion system and was able to move on its own. Using the system to maintain a stable position was an easy task.

The position had been selected because the area around L3 was considered to be a remote and neutral region with least amount of N-jammer interference. The region was also relatively small and, after the Heliopolis incident, had no other colonies or military fortresses. This location was ideal for Circ-City, since many agreed to keep the station's allegiance neutral.

This whole situation made Leon frown in confusion. They could have easily avoided all of this if the constructors had been smart enough to use proven fusion reactors, not the brand new fission type power plants. Typical, trust Navis to use something unorthodox and inferior than ask Mirage to provide a nice, powerful solution. On the other hand that was probably one of the reasons how Navis had managed to build Circ-City without anyone noticing in the first place.

He typed in a few commands and the computer brought up several reports about the nuclear fission technology. It was still in its infant stage, since it was rarely applied practically. For some reason, Project Utopia didn't consider using nuclear fission as a power source. Instead the Ark had been outfitted with a prototype fusion reactor and by the time the first generation of colonists had matured The Controller had established fusion generators as the primary source of power. Over the years Utopians had held on to this technology and perfected it, making fusion power plants far superior than fission based ones, at least as far Leon was concerned.

Furthermore, it seemed nuclear reactors would turn into a dead end anyway. N-jammers were actively making them useless; fusion power seemed to be the only answer. Several Ravens had further strengthened this belief, claiming there were no problems with their ACs. Some of them had already left the Circ-City to start their work on new contracts. For new clients or old ones, it didn't matter, their ACs were running perfectly.

Still, Leon didn't write nuclear fission completely off. He was certain there were still some possible chances for it. Find out a way to combat the effects of N-jammers if nothing else. Plus the natives were sure to enjoy a solution for their energy problem. It would mean more influence and better chances of receiving a favor or two. Another win for Mirage, extra money and power never hurt.

He put away the scientific files and called up another report. This one dealt with recent events. Destruction of the 8th Fleet. Leon briefly amused himself with various strength and battle progress reports before his eyes located the two points of interest.

One of them was the rumors of AC NineBall as the main culprit responsible for the destruction. Leon smiled and shook his head in amazement. Many dismissed the existence NineBall and its pilot Hustler One, regarding them as urban legends. The reason was quite understandable. No one liked the idea of an ultimate pilot, whose skills bordered on the impossible. It ruffled their pride.

Some said the pilot was unbeatable, capable of taking on any number of opponents and still emerge victorious. Others claimed to see the NineBall appear out of thin air only to lay waste to everything nearby and then disappear as mysteriously as he had appeared. The most popular rumor was that it had been Hustler One who had destroyed The Controller ending the war. The very same rumor said the pilot had died soon after; however, this latest event concerning the 8th Fleet seemed to prove at least one rumor to be false.

Personally Leon though that a lot of people were idiots. He was a man of science and logic and he applied those same principles to the world, everything could be explained, measured and documented, there was no room for magic or illusions. Hustler One was real, that was a fact. As for his skills and abilities, Leon believed in the old saying, which stated that sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic.

However, this paled in the comparison of the second thing he had found out. Those very same rumors, probably caused by Hustler One himself, spoke about a frightening revelation. A Pulverizer class MT had been spotted on Earth. The machine had been trying to help the Earth Alliance fleet when it had been seen by the Raven who had destroyed the said fleet. Usually Leon would have taken such tales as a fruit of imagination, but this was different. No one, in their sane mind would joke about such a thing. Therefore he had no reason not to believe it. Earth Alliance had a Pulverizer.

Leon leaned back in his chair and felt his mind starting to work. While holding onto this simple fact, he scattered his mind into pieces, sorting them in various piles, connecting them and searching for their place in the big picture like one would do while putting together a puzzle. Soon he noticed a gap this fact filled nicely. "That's why The Controller built that gate. To send the Pulverizer, or several of them, to Earth … Why?" Another gap appeared and summoned an annoyed gasp. New holes were appearing just as fast as he could fill them. Every time Leon found a new piece of the puzzle, a new gap appeared, further increasing the empty spaces. It slowly turned into a never-ending Sisyphean challenge.

With a sudden realization it dawned to him that this fact also was a part of another puzzle. A puzzle, where this piece was one of the most important ones. "If Earth Alliance has the Pulverizer, it means…" He spoke it out loud, in order to place more focus on the thought. "They have quite an advantage." Possession of such a technological treasure meant that Earth would have access to Utopian technology other than what the corporations would give.

This also raised other questions, such as how did they manage to capture one in the first place and how much had they learned from it? He considered the thought and filed it away. Truth be told, these questions weren't as important as they might seem. Leon was sure he would find out about them eventually. Sure, someone like Garon or Yoshirou would be using everything in their power to figure out his problem, but Leon wasn't like them. For now, his main concern was to bring order back to his corporation and then find a place to settle down. At least for now. Competition and rivalry was all well and nice, but it couldn't become the sole reason of one's existence.

With all major tasks taken care of, or at least, partially addressed, Leon decided it was time to relax and do something easier on his mind. He settled more comfortably in his chair and turned his attention on a particular set of files. These were supplied to him by Earth Alliance representatives and held an impressive amount of information about international politics and various nations and factions on Earth. _Yes, something nice and simple to take my mind off things._

xxxxx

Uzumi Nara Athha disliked Mobile Suits. He disliked the purpose they were created for and how good they were at fulfilling that purpose. Waging war and seeding destruction and suffering. If that was their only role, then Uzumi considered it to be a sad existence, especially if Orb had to create such things. The ideals of his country were deeply engraved in his mind and sometimes he couldn't help and judge others by those ideals.

He would like nothing more than to see these Mobile Suits dismantled and the whole program canceled and use the resources to fund other, more important projects rather than spend them on something like this. However, Uzumi wasn't a fool, even if he didn't like them; he could not ignore the importance of researching and building Mobile Suits. If Orb was to remain a sovereign nation it had to possess a strong army, capable of guarding it from anyone who wanted to walk all over Orb.

Although Orb already had a relatively large navy and a sizable army for its size, it wasn't nearly big enough to hold back a determined attacker. Orb's main strengths had always been its neutrality and technology. Even though the army was small, every piece of its arsenal was a high quality product. Building better ships, manufacturing more advanced weapons and incorporating newest strategies and tactics into its armed forces at a much faster rate than any other nation was the reason why Orb had remained an independent nation for so long.

Same thing went for Mobile Suits. When ZAFT first rolled out its first model, Orb immediately considered starting its own Mobile Suit program. Some people tried to object, stating that building such machines would be expensive and time consuming. Most of them came from the military industry enjoying the money they received from building conventional weapons. Their objections were silenced when Mobile Suits proved their effectiveness in combat and the Atlantic Federation offered to start a joint project on Mobile Suits.

The decision had been made then and there, Orb will have Mobile Suits. This decision was the reason why Uzumi was standing on the catwalk near the ceiling of the underground hangar. A brown haired woman, wearing a Morgenroete uniform, stood next to him. Both stared at the six massive shapes underneath them. After several months of hard work, the first Astray models had come off the assembly line and were ready for testing.

"So these will be the guardians of Orb?" Uzumi let his gaze slide across the Mobile Suits, taking in every detail of their appearance. A very small part of him enjoyed what he was seeing. A great example of modern machinery if nothing else. Smooth, streamlined surfaces formed the armor plates covering the advanced mechanisms within. Their delicate and aesthetic design spoke of great agility and speed, while still possessing a decent punch. Maybe he didn't like Mobile Suits much, but he did enjoy a fine work of art. "I have to say their appearance is very pleasant."

"Thank you, mister Chief Representative. We tried our best to make them look nice. Orb has always been a tropical paradise, so we tried to transfer the same appearance to these Mobile Suits. Hulking, bulky oafs wouldn't look good in this environment." Chief engineer Erica Simmons leaned against the railings and smiled. Hearing her work being admired was one of the major perks in her job. "Of course they do a lot more than simply look nice. The Astrays are capable of impressive feats on the battlefield. Not only that, but the way we designed them makes them the first examples of an entirely new brand of Mobile Suits, not just our adaptation of the Alliance's G weapons."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I don't mean to brag, I don't think ZAFT Mobile Suits would have much of a chance against these." She tried to be humble, but her voice told otherwise. "You see, mister Chief Representative, ZAFT Mobile Suits aren't built for anti-Mobile Suit combat. Since they're currently the only ones using Mobile Suits, this makes a lot of sense. Why design their Mobile Suits to fight other Mobile Suits when their only opponents are Mobile Armors, ships or armored fighting vehicles? It just doesn't make sense. However, when other nations eventually start fielding their own Mobile Suits, ZAFT will be in for a big surprise, unlike Orb."

"As you can see, the Astrays are less armored than the GINNs. This makes them lighter and faster than GINNs, at least on paper and simulations, since we don't have any GINNs there's no way of finding out. Of course we decided to equip our Astrays with shields, while they certainly are agile enough, they can't dodge every shot. Sooner or later the enemy will land a shot; therefore it makes a lot of sense using something other than your Mobile Suit to stop it."

"On the offensive side we adapted the beam rifle technology from the Alliance's project, and I have to say, these things show a lot of promise. Their ability to defeat armor is one of the reasons why we didn't bother putting on so much on our Mobile Suits in the first place. Especially since I expect both ZAFT and probably Earth Alliance will be switching to it as soon as they get the chance. The downside is, these things are a serious drain on the battery. Heat's also a problem, fire it too fast and the whole rifle will melt. We are working to replace the heat sinks, but it will take time."

"We also copied the CIWS emplacements. Those two protrusions on either side of the head. Multi-barreled 75mm cannons for additional close range offense and defense. Close range since the barrels are short and lose their penetrating power very quickly, accuracy is also an issue, but it gets the work done. And finally there's a pair of beam sabers on each hip. So that's it the M1 Astray. Probably the best mass-produced Mobile Suit in the world." She finished her presentation and glanced at Uzumi, eager to hear what he had to say.

Uzumi took a moment to process the whole information before letting his opinion be known. "They are impressive. However, I'm interested in their production estimates, how long until Orb can field an appropriate force of them?"

"Currently the facilities we have here can produce two Astrays a week. The production rates will improve to four Astrays a week once we expand the assembly lines, but doing so will lower our Aegis class cruiser production rate." Erica replied after a quick calculation. "A few of the other companies have offered their assistance so we're thinking of sharing our tasks with them. However, they will be facing the same problems, shifting a production line takes a lot of time. All in all, we're estimating approximately ten Astrays a week in four and a half months."

"Sounds acceptable." Uzumi sighed and nodded assent. "Rest assured I'll try to hurry things up from my side, but there's not much I can promise … Now, I want you to tell me one more thing about these Mobile Suits. Can our pilots use them?"

"Part of them can." Erica winced in slight frustration. No matter how hard they worked and tried, there was no way they could find a solution that would allow everyone to pilot the Astrays. "They have no problems with the machines, and the comments have been very good. As for the other part ..." She didn't feel she had to explain it to him. Uzumi was obviously thinking the same thing.

Uzumi spared another look at the Astray directly below him. "That won't do. More than sixty percent of our military personnel are Naturals. We can't turn the Mobile Suit branch into something only Coordinators can serve in. It'll not only create unrest, but we'll be seriously short of pilots. Consider this as much of an order as I can give you, Erica, finding a way for Naturals to pilot Mobile Suits must be your top priority."

"We'll find a way. It's only a matter of time." Erica promised resolutely. "It wouldn't take so long if we hadn't lost Christopher and Miranda Stokes. They were making an impressive progress with the OS development, despite being busy with other things." Then, a sudden thought occurred to her. Like everyone else even slightly involved in the G project, she had paid attention to events related to it. This had resulted in her finding out about a strange Mobile Suit on Heliopolis and several rumors regarding a new kind of a machine destroying a large portion of the Alliance's 8th Fleet and finally, the appearance of a strange space station. "You know, sir, I've been hearing a lot about strange things going on up in space."

"Are you talking about Circ-City?" Uzumi looked at her, speaking out Erica's thoughts before she could say them. He smiled when he saw the slightly surprised look on her face. "Yes, I've been hearing all kinds of news about them." What he didn't say was where the news came from.

Orb wasn't exactly as innocent and pure as most of the world imagined it to be. Like any other nation, Orb had its number of spies and agents in both Earth Alliance's and ZAFT's intelligence networks. Orb's agents had even infiltrated the ranks of Blue Cosmos, sending information about the organization's plans and activities. Sending people to infiltrate Blue Cosmos was the one thing Uzumi found something of a necessary evil. Blue Cosmos was an immoral terrorist organization. It thrived on death and suffering, tainting people and using them like tools. However, it had to be done. And if losing an agent meant that more lives would be saved, then Uzumi was willing to pay the price.

"It seems that a space station appeared out of nowhere more than a week ago. I still haven't checked out what do they mean by "out of nowhere", but apparently Earth Alliance and PLANTs have focused much of their attention on them lately. It makes me believe this Circ-City means something important to both of them." Uzumi said. "However, I believe you wanted to say something, right?"

"That's right." Erica agreed, while connecting the dots at the same time. "You see, several months ago Doctor Stokes started another project, besides the G-weapon program. All I found out was that he was working on some kind of a strange Mobile Suit the Alliance had recently captured. Initially, I assumed it was nothing more than a ZAFT made prototype, but when he told me that he had gotten the idea of PS armor technology from it, I tried to find out more about it. Unfortunately Heliopolis was destroyed before I received a detailed report."

"It disappeared from my sight until reports started coming in, stating that the Archangel had two Mobile Suits. With Aegis, Buster, Blitz and Duel stolen by ZAFT, it leaves only Strike, right? Therefore I instantly realized that the sixth machine was the one Doctor Stokes had been working on. Furthermore, the presence of another new type of Mobile Suit during the 8th Fleet disaster, lends me to believe that these machines might be related. Maybe they're even connected to Circ-City."

"Why do you think so?" Uzumi tried to figure out what was the engineer talking about. "They could be a new type of Mobile Suit made by ZAFT."

Erica shook her head. "No. Think about it, sir. A lot of strange things have been going on lately. One of the core members of G project suddenly starts another research and soon after Phase Shift armor technology falls out of the blue and he acknowledges getting the idea from a strange Mobile Suit. The same machine later shows up alongside the Archangel, while EA and PLANTs are obsessed with that Circ-City, a space station no one seems to know anything about. Furthermore, another weird Mobile Suit wipes out most of the EA's 8th Fleet soon after news regarding the very same Circ-City start to spread. Sir, I honestly think Circ-City has something to do with these machines."

"Hmm, sounds plausible and it does make some sense." Uzumi considered that and finally realized what Erica had in mind. "I assume you want to find out more about those Mobile Suits?"

"Their control systems to be precise. From what I've heard they seem to be very advanced, if so then I believe it could help solve our problem." Erica explained with a faint tone of excitement in her voice. The perspective of examining a potentially very advanced piece of machinery was enough to get her blood flowing. Mobile Suits and anything related to them was her biggest weakness. "Maybe we should try to find out more about that Circ-City. If EA and PLANTs are interested, then I see no reason why Orb should turn a blind eye towards it. It might turn out to be something serious."

"I see." Uzumi muttered absentmindedly. Erica was right, something was going on and judging from the sound of things it was something big. Something involving Mobile Suits. Once again he felt his dislike for the machines rise up. Almost everything nowadays seemed to be related to these damned things. But he realized it was just like with Blue Cosmos. Certain things simply had to be tolerated and dealt with, no matter his personal feelings towards them. "I'll get some people to look into it and see if we can find out more about Circ-City." He shivered slightly, something which surprised him. Why was he getting a bad feeling about this?

xxxxx

Garon was wrong. Muruta's suggestion to take a ride in his limo wasn't a cheap shot at making him feel outnumbered. Apparently Muruta wanted the whole deal to go down as smooth as possible and was genuinely interested in forging mutually favorable relations. This fact alone was enough to make him wonder. From what Viktor had revealed about Blue Cosmos, combined with the tiny bits and pieces gathered by his already established intelligence network, Garon was certain the Blue Cosmos was a group of radical racist terrorists. Naturally, he expected the organization's leader to fully display its ideals and beliefs. However, the impression he had about Muruta Azrael wasn't that bad. A determined and successful businessman with a heavy dose of self assurance and slight arrogance. The latter didn't concern him much; everyone in position of power shared that tiny sin. All in all he was definitely someone Garon was willing to work with.

The ride itself was uneventful and Viktor passed their time, by informing Garon about Bastion. What Garon had seen on the surface wasn't the actual base. The few buildings, mostly warehouses, hangars, and several administrative buildings, were tasked with dealing with the incoming and outgoing traffic, and storage of various materials before they were transported underground. The main part of the base was located underground, or rather, under the mountains, making it even safer than the famous Cheyenne Mountain in terms of nuclear war. Even repeated hits from strategic level nuclear weapons weren't dangerous since the said weapons would have to get rid of the mountains first.

The underground part was further divided into two sections. The largest part was the factory complex. Dozens of assembly lines, warehouses and manufacturing plants filled most of the space created by an army of miners and were fed by a system of giant cargo elevators and even several train tracks connected Bastion with the outside world. A smaller, yet more important section of the base was dedicated to more refined and delicate tasks. The second complex was the place where the numerous Blue Cosmos's secrets were kept and where its dreams and plans were created and carried out. And into this heart of the organization Muruta Azrael and Viktor Nodokov had decided to start their cooperation with Garon Kelly.

"You know, this reminds me of Layered. Only it was bigger and more spacious." Garon ran his hands over the leather couch he was sitting on. The material was soft to the touch. Very expensive. "On the other side you don't have any killer computers around, so I guess it's a definite plus." He gave the room a second look around. They were in Viktor's office, three levels underground.

"So I assume you're satisfied with these surroundings?" Muruta asked from across the table, where he was sitting on another couch, while Viktor observed them from his usual place in his chair.

"Oh, yes. I'm very satisfied." Garon was enjoying himself. "After spending most of my life underground I guess I've developed a mild case of agoraphobia. Never had the chance to properly get used to large, open spaces." He openly admitted and shook his shoulders. He was surprised to realize how much he actually missed this kind of an environment. He missed it so much that his mood improved considerably when he found out they were going underground, the stiffness in his shoulders vanished, his heart slowed down and an increasing calmness engulfed his body the deeper they went. "But now that I'm here, I feel much better. Now, about the offer you proposed." His features regained a great deal of his previous seriousness and tension.

"Straight to the deal. I like that." Muruta shook his head in admiration. "Now, as Viktor has probably explained it to you, I am the director of Blue Cosmos, a military industrial concern. As you also probably know, Blue Cosmos is the major provider of Earth Alliances armaments. The organization alone produces more than sixty percent of Atlantic Federation's war material. As a result our position allows us to have a great amount of ... influence, on various Atlantic Federation's, and by extension, Earth Alliance's, decisions." He felt a bit disappointed when Garon failed to display any emotion at all; the man reclined in his couch, his legs crossed and his attention fully focused on Muruta. Either he wasn't impressed or he hid his emotions very well.

_Doesn't matter. The main goal is to get him on our side. _Muruta straightened his tie and continued. "No matter how much I dislike the fact, but your arrival is certain to make an impact on many things, not just economics and competition. Normally, Blue Cosmos would do everything in its power to neutralize any competition and threats, but certain factors have made me reconsider."

"I'm sure our technology is one of those factors, right?" Garon spoke up, fighting to keep a smug grin away from his face. The sensation of power was almost intoxicating. However, Viktor soon, banished such thoughts.

"Yes, but not exactly to the level you're thinking, mister Kelly. You see, we actually knew about Utopia before Circ-City even arrived." He paused, letting an uncomfortable silence descend across the room. Garon looked at Viktor, and then back at Muruta, who wasn't nearly as good as him when it came of concealing a victorious grin.

"What do you mean?" In response, Viktor typed a few commands into his computer and the wall mounted monitors, to Garon's right, came to life. What they showed was enough to send a cold chill down Garon's spine. He looked at each monitor and then closed his eyes, praying that this was some kind of a trick. When he opened them nothing had changed, the images remained the same.

Nineteen Pulverizers, all in various states of damage, were arrayed in lines against both sides of some kind of a hangar. A fair number of them were stripped from their armor, revealing the internal systems, while others were disassembled even more. Several scientists and technicians were inspecting them, trying to discover all secrets the silent machines kept.

"What is the meaning of this! Where did you get these things from?" He demanded. The shock and fear were plainly evident in his voice. Fortunately for him and everyone else nearby, it looked like the Pulverizers were offline; the usually brightly pulsating lines were dark and lifeless. For now. If these people would ever connect them to a power source… He shrugged discreetly. The consequences would be horrifying. "Why do you have those machines?" He repeated his question more impatiently.

"They came to us." Viktor said calmly, he left the screens on so that Garon could get another look at the light blue machines now and then. "Several months ago we picked up what looked like a meteor heading for Earth. However, shortly before entering the planet's atmosphere it crashed into the Debris Belt, the remains of Junius Seven, to be precise. Of course it was nothing new, but then there was an attack on one of our ships on the Moon. The attacker later turned out to be a Pulverizer. After we managed to secure it, we tried to find out where it came from. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the attack on our ship took place a few moments after the meteor passed the Moon. We sent our forces to the estimated crash site and discovered not a meteor, but a container or a shuttle, something between the two. We also found nineteen of those things." Viktor pointed at the monitors. "Afterwards, we did the only possible thing; we collected them and brought them down here to study them. The information we managed to extract from their computers gave us a great deal of knowledge about … pretty much everything regarding Utopia."

"If so, why do want my help? I know it for a fact, all you want from us is our technology, nothing more. We also made it clear we have nothing against sharing it with you in return for help. Then why are we sitting here? Why are you willing to offer Crest your help if you already have everything we can offer?" Garon felt his anger rise, if all this was nothing more than a joke…

"It's not a joke. Blue Cosmos is genuinely interested in cooperating with Crest." Muruta spoke up. The fact the Garon was getting pissed bothered him, if they couldn't make things happen with friendly methods, Blue Cosmos would have to resort to its usual tricks of the trade. "What mister Nodokov didn't tell you is, the information we have is very general and non-specific. There are also some parts of it missing, so we don't have the whole picture. As for technology, all we have is what is packed inside those Pulverizers. Even then we can't use all of it, for example, we still can't work out how to activate those fusion reactors. That's why we need your assistance. You know how they work."

"Well, the 3rd generation reactors were kind of messy, yes. Something with the safety systems being tied to the control program and all that. Basically if the main control program isn't working then the generator gets locked down." Garon thoughtfully rubbed his chin. He was much calmer now, it seemed not everything was lost and if what Muruta had said was true then Crest still had a chance. "We could try to find a control program for them, but it'll be hard. The Pulverizers were reprogrammed by The Controller, there's no telling how long it will take to create a similar one." To Garon's surprise Viktor shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"Doesn't matter, we still have a plan to fix them for ourselves. What we want from you is everything else not included in those machines." Garon considered that. It didn't sound that bad, these Pulverizers were old, almost two generations out of date, if he crossed off the technology inside them, the list was still pretty long.

"Fine, I see your point … What do you offer in return?" Garon made up his mind and focused back on Muruta, who suddenly looked very relieved.

_Finally some progress! _Muruta cheered inwardly, for a moment he was worried that Garon would decide otherwise and send them all to hell. He made a note to talk to Viktor about his style of approach; he had almost messed up the whole deal. "Okay, in return for your cooperation we will provide the initial living space for your employees. You will also be able to use the production facilities as well as any necessary resources we have here, at least until you decide to set up your own facilities. We will also provide assistance when you start building said production facilities. Also, since your corporation focuses on fields which are very beneficial for us, we will rely on you to accept a fair amount of our contracts as well as possible participation in our projects. Basically, until Crest is ready to stand on its own, Blue Cosmos will take care of you."

"No strings attached?"

"No. I will not use this situation as a reason to call in any favors in the future."

Garon pretended to consider his answer, though his decision had been made long ago. He was about to let them know he agreed, when a small detail caught his mind. "One little thing. Why didn't you tell us about the Pulverizers when we met on Circ-City?"

The victorious grin on Muruta's face returned. "Letting someone think that all his secrets are his secrets alone, can be a very big advantage, don't you think so?"

This time, Garon also smiled a victorious grin on his own. Muruta was right, and now this advantage was his as well. If Earth Alliance was already familiar with how things worked on Utopia, and the specifics of the corporations, it meant that working with the Alliance would be much easier and simpler. It made things unfair for other nations and more difficult for Mirage and Kisaragi. He was already feeling like home. "Fine, mister Azrael." He stood up and held out his hand. "You have a deal."


	20. The Tiger's lair

A/N: To my good readers Toby and JC. Since I can't send you a private review reply, consider this my reply to your reviews. Regarding Kira and ZAFT favoritism, you don't have to worry at all. I'm trying my hardest not to allow my like or dislike for certain characters influence my work. I consider it my task and responsibility to view all characters equally. So, to answer your questions, no, I'm not planning to have a story where Kira dominates his opponents with his eyes closed. He's good, but he's not untouchable and there is only so much one pilot can do. Truth be told, I advise all of my readers to forget the "ranking system" when it comes to pilots, Gundams, AC, whatever. There won't be an ultimate pilot. Just because someone won the first fight, doens't mean he'll with the next time. But more of this will be addressed deeper in the second story.

As for factions, some of you have probably already noticed that I tend to prefer the EA's point of view. Even though I am a EA fan and I have no intention of making these guys look like saints while everyone else is a fiend from the depths of hell. No one is nice and good, not even Orb.

* * *

Several days had passed since the attack on Tassil. And as expected they were far from calm. Though no battle took place between ZAFT and Desert Dawn, emotions in the rebel camp were just as strong as they were in battle.

After returning with the survivors from the unfortunate assault, Sahib was forced to do more than give a hard glare and a shake of a finger. One of his responsibilities as a leader was to maintain discipline and enforce the authority of his leadership. Though nothing like the regular army, being a group of volunteers, Desert Dawn did have its rules.

Several of the most unpopular hotheads were straightened out by their more levelheaded fellows. No one saw these lessons being carried out, such things always taking place away from public view, but the bruises and nervous looks on several men spoke clearly. Sahib wasn't the only one pissed off by the rash decision.

Sahib, being a leader, was unable to carry out the same attitude adjustment lessons taking place among the soldiers. Such acts were unfitting for a leader. Instead he simply had the ones responsible imprisoned in improvised cells for a few days. In some ways it was a mercy, since it kept the men safe from their attackers.

However, the main problem had arisen as soon as they had found out about the results of Walftield's attack. With the houses and supplies burnt, the population of Tassil had nowhere to go. Living in burnt houses without food or water was hardly an option for them. The nearby village of Moora had agreed to accept part of the survivors, but it only alleviated the problem instead of solving it.

The rest of the refugees stayed at the camp. While space wasn't an issue, given the size of the complex and the number of caves, the supplies were. Even if the emergency supplies at Tassil hadn't been destroyed, it wouldn't have changed much. Desert Dawn had nowhere near enough supplies to take care of so many people for several days.

This was one of the reasons why two Desert Dawn jeeps were entering Banadiya. Another reason was the need for ammunition. The two engagements with Waltfield's forces had cost a large amount of Desert Dawn's combat supplies. Also, Cagalli's claims, backed up with agreements from other soldiers, had fueled the need for more modern weapons if they wanted to have a chance against Mobile Suits.

Though home to ZAFT's forces in this area the city was also home to a large number of weapons dealers who were capable of providing a client with any kind of weapon they wanted, as long as the cash flowed.

Obviously, the proximity of ZAFT forces made this task very dangerous. Buying weapons right under ZAFT's nose was just asking for trouble and if anyone of them got caught then things would get problematic. However, Sahib assured everyone that there was no point in worrying. The population of Banadiya was too big for ZAFT to monitor and control effectively, catching a small group like theirs would be nigh impossible. To further ensure their safety Sahib had elected to take some of the Archangel's crewmembers with him. Partially because the Archangel needed some supplies as well, but mostly because no one in the city knew them, and it would be impossible to suspect them as Desert Dawn members.

The two jeeps made their way through the lively streets until they reached one of their destinations. The marketplace. While most of the passengers didn't have any business in this part of the city, two of them had. Kira and Cagalli jumped out of the jeep they've been riding in and took a quick look around. At least Kira did. Cagalli was more concerned about their chances of return than to stare at the locals.

"Just like we agreed then, we'll see you here in four hours right?" She checked it with Kisaka.

The bodyguard nodded. "Correct, and be careful."

"Yeah, I know." Cagalli replied with a slight hint of annoyance. She didn't like being told to be careful, she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and didn't need to be reminded that the world was a dangerous place. "You should watch out as well. Al-Jairi is someone you should be careful with." Kisaka smiled humorlessly and ordered the driver to move, a short moment later both vehicles began moving again and left Kira and Cagalli alone.

Kira was slightly confused by all the activity around him. After all that time spent in space, the crowds were something he had forgotten bout. No matter where he looked there were groups of people wandering around, talking to each other or haggling with the merchants about prices. He also noticed how relaxed and even happy everyone was. Banadiya looked nothing like an occupied city. There wasn't a single sign that a war was going on.

"Hey, stop dazing around already." Cagalli interrupted his thoughts. "You're supposed to be my bodyguard."

"Oh, right." Kira startled slightly, but his mind once again went back on the previous line of thought. "Strange, everything looks so lively and peaceful. Is this really the Tiger's stronghold?"

"Follow me." Cagalli replied curtly and led him towards the nearby alley. They soon reached what Kira assumed was a courtyard, but he soon realized that the opening was centered around a large crater with piles of rubble around it. "This city only looks peaceful on the outside. That's the true ruler of Banadiya." Cagalli pointed in the distance. A giant land battleship was stationed just outside the city, dwarfing the few buildings next to it. Kira took a deep breath when he realized how big the thing was.

"Those who oppose are killed without second thought." Cagalli continued quietly. "This city belongs to ZAFT … It belongs to the "Tiger of the Desert"." Her voice turned hard. For a moment they both stood there and stared at the Lesseps class land battleship, completely unaware that someone was staring at them.

xxxxx

"Enter." Murrue replied when the doors to the Captain's quarters chimed, announcing the presence of a visitor. The doors opened and it turned out that her visitor was someone she actually wanted to talk to.

"Hello, Captain Ramius." Maria greeted and stepped inside. Her eyes made a quick look around and widened when the level of comfort was made apparent. She tore her eyes off the rug and smiled at Murrue. "If you don't mind, I was hoping we could talk about a couple of things."

Murrue put away the papers she had been working on and pointed towards a couch near the desk. "Of course, have a seat and please, call me Murrue."

"Thanks." Maria sat down. It was impossible not to notice how soft and comfortable the couch was, if only the Warchief had this level of luxury. "Oh, and since you prefer to leave the formality out, I see no reason not to do the same."

"So, what did you wanted to talk about?" Murrue placed her hands together and sat a little straighter. It didn't serve to make a bad impression, especially if she was in charge of the ship.

"It's about the future. Because of your arrival we have the strength to take the Tiger's forces head-on and a chance of victory. However, I'm not here to discuss any battle plans and all that. What I want to ask you is to take us with you when everything is over."

Murrue frowned in surprise. She hadn't expected this. "Take you with us? Why?"

"Other than the Tiger we have no reason to be here." Maria explained with a shrug. "The Desert Dawn's ideals don't concern us. We decided to stay until we had the Tiger's head on a stick. After that we would have returned to our forces in Victoria, but now that Victoria has been lost, returning to friendly forces will be more difficult. But then I realized you're heading to Alaska, so I figured maybe you could give us a lift."

Murrue weighed her opinions and realized that there were no problems in agreeing to the request. Maria and her soldiers were Earth Alliance soldiers who were stranded behind enemy lines with almost no means of return. Leaving them here would be ensuring the "almost" turned into "absolutely". On the upside allowing them on the Archangel would increase the ship's effectiveness, since they still didn't have a full crew. Chief Murdoch in particular would be very grateful. Taking care of the ship's hangar with only a handful of people was a difficult task and any extra help would be welcome. "Why not? That way we can repay you for your help and we could use additional people to help out with the ship. There's just one problem..." Maria seemed to know what was worrying Murrue since she smiled and nodded before Murrue could even put her worries in words.

"I know what you're thinking about. The Archangel doesn't have enough room for the tanks. I know. I'd actually be surprised if your ship was big enough for almost thirty combat vehicles. Therefore I've decided to leave them behind, something as a parting gift to Sahib."

"You plan to leave behind military equipment? A lot of people will be very upset when they find out about this." Murrue frowned in quandary. Maria just shrugged it off nonchalantly.

"We've been listed MIA, likely dead, for several months now. The only reason they haven't written us off is because our bodies were never found. The higher-ups don't have an idea about our condition. They'd be happy just to see us alive. Besides what they don't know, won't hurt them."

Murrue studied her and had to agree, Maria's plan sounded logical. A defeated unit stranded in enemy territory, working with the rebels and eventually getting rescued by allied forces. "I see. It does seem sound … Besides; I can't leave you people here. I agree."

"God, I feel so much better now." Maria let out a relieved sigh and rubbed her eyes. "By the way. Even though I said we're leaving our tanks behind, can we at least take Pumba with us? "

"Pumba?"

"Yeah. My tank. I've been commanding it for more than a year now and I really don't want to leave it behind." Maria chuckled when she saw the look on Murrue's face. "Felix came up with the name. I think it's from some ancient cartoon or something like that."

"Oh … well, I think there's enough space for one tank. I see what we can do."

"Excellent! Thank you. I've been with that tank for more than a year now and we've been through a lot together, so I've gotten attached to it." Maria said gratefully. "The only thing that's left now is to deal with the Tiger without losing it. It would be a shame to lose Pumba at the very end."

Murrue quietly nodded in agreement, losing something dear was … she stopped before her thoughts could progress any further down that road. "Maria, you've been here for a while, what can you tell me about Andrew Waltfield." She changed the topic abruptly, her thoughts still lingering around the medallion she wore around her neck. The other woman gave her a confused look, obviously aware of the sudden change, but apparently decided to say nothing.

"Andrew Waltfield … let me think." Maria drummed her fingers against the other palm in her lap. "He's good, real good. A genius when it comes to desert warfare and capable of winning even a numerically far superior foe. As you already know, he's the master behind the Suez Battle. The entire tank corps, more than three thousand tanks, gone, just like that." She let out a deep sigh. For a few moments Maria stared at the opposite wall with a lifeless look in her eyes, before she returned to here and now. "Anyway, that's what you probably already knew. As a person, he's actually not that bad. He doesn't execute and pursue his enemies after they've been defeated, at least if it makes no difference. He also doesn't want to exterminate us, just defeat us. Kind of a stupid move if you ask me, since he certainly has more than enough power to stomp us out … What else … Oh, yeah, I've heard some rumors that the guy's supposed to be a bit … eccentric. Before the Suez Battle he supposedly sent our commander a present as a gesture of good will."

"A present?" Murrue couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes. Coffee, if you can believe it." They both shared a short laugh. "Of course he proceeded to kick all our asses later on."

"Interesting, however, from what I've seen it looks like he's often toying with us. Do you actually believe we have a chance against him?"

"There's always a chance, Murrue. Always. And even the Tiger is far from a flawless commander. He has weaknesses. The biggest one is that once something catches his interest, he often fails to notice what's happening around. That's the reason why we were able to help you out the first night. He was so obsessed with the Archangel and those two machines, he didn't see us coming until it was too late."

"Great, so the famous Desert Tiger is obsessed with my ship." Murrue muttered and rested her head on her steepled fingers. "I think it's enough of a reason to be worried about the safety of this ship."

"True, but it also gives us an advantage. If he goes after you, my boys will have a better chance of survival and we will have a chance to flank or ambush him." Murrue gave her a level look.

"It doesn't make me feel any better. Besides, no offense, but I doubt the effectiveness of your tanks against their Mobile Suits."

A hint of hurt pride flashed in Maria's eyes, but her voice was as cheerful as before. "Not if you know what you're doing. As long as those BuCues stay away from us, they're not the most dangerous things around. As for their ZuOOTs, they're a joke, one of the few examples of Coordinator stupidity. Besides, you have those two defending your ship."

"One actually, the Pulverizer has been having some problems with its power system and since there is so little information about how it works, it's hard to predict when it will be ready for combat."

"No idea at all? That sucks. Too bad there isn't a user's manual for that thing." Maria commented. She knew about the Pulverizer's origins and the whole deal in space, regarding Circ-City. The crew of the Archangel weren't the best people to entrust secrets to. Add the fact that Circ-City's existence wasn't supposed to be a secret in the first place and it was no wonder everyone knew about it.

Like everyone else, Maria couldn't believe it at first. Space stations from other planets? Sure, she didn't believe it wasn't possible, but just not in this day and age. A century or two later? Sure. There was no telling how far humanity would have advanced by then. However, in Cosmic Era 71, it was impossible. Eventually she was forced to either change her mind or accept that everyone on the Archangel was crazy. And since they didn't look crazy, it wasn't much of a choice. She decided to check things out for herself when she'd returned back home. For now, she just had to take their word for it.

"Somehow I'm glad for it." Murrue said quietly. "Daniel isn't the best pilot out there and he's certainly well out of his league when he pilots it in battle. Thankfully he's always careful because he doesn't know everything about the Pulverizer. If he knew, he'd probably be more reckless and would get himself killed." She had no idea why she was telling this to Maria, but recently she had been a lot more concerned about her pilots.

Kira had lately gotten withdrawn and uncommunicative and seemed to be obsessively working on the Strike, performing various adjustments, running tests and then making some more enhancements. He had taken this thing so far as to even resort to sleeping inside the cockpit. Something, Murrue was certain, was more than counterproductive to his health. Both mental and physical.

Furthermore, it was impossible not to notice Kira's relationship with Flay. It being the main topic of most rumors on the ship lately. While she had nothing against Kira pursuing romantic interests, Murrue was slightly concerned about the weird nature of it. It was a well known fact that Flay had dumped Sai, but no one could understand why. Why so suddenly and with a lack of a real reason? Not to mention the dislike, even hostility Flay displayed towards Sai. Something was clearly wrong here, but Murrue knew it wasn't her business and she was too polite to investigate.

As for Daniel, things were a bit better. His obsession with the Pulverizer was far more reasonable. The power issues had to be fixed if he wanted to actually do something in the next fight. Murrue assumed the boy was making progress, since he had begun to take longer breaks and his mood was improving. Slowly, but steadily. It was a much needed improvement ever since the Archangel's first night in the desert when he'd almost got killed, however, while Murrue was glad to see him getting better, she didn't like the idea how keen Daniel was about the idea of going into battle again. He was practically looking forward to it and it wasn't a good thing.

"Damn, I have one pilot suffering from what could be described as depressed obsession while the other is almost enthusiastic about charging headlong into battle." Murrue didn't realize she was talking out loud. Only when Maria started replying, did Murrue realize her slip-up.

"Then between the two of them you have one decent pilot. Besides you have to let them earn their spurs and if one of them dies, well…" She noticed the glare Murrue was giving her and quickly held up her hands in apology. "Sorry. For us tankers life doesn't have the same value it might to you. Not with the casualties my kind tends to suffer."

"One thing you have to understand is that I'm practically the one who asked them to fight in the first place, even if we had no other option. I pulled them into this war. Sure, they probably would have fought anyway, they have their reasons, but it was me who gave them my full support and continuously allowed those two to fight. In a way feel responsible for what happens to them. That's why I can't help to be concerned about them."

Maria studied the Archangel's Captain for a moment. "You're a good Captain, Murrue." She quietly said in an admiring voice. "I've rarely met officers who cared so much about their subordinates. However, it often depends on what kind of subordinates you get. If you spent as much time with Felix as I have, you'd probably be…" The intercom on Murrue's desk interrupted the pleasant conversation with a short beep.

"Sorry." Murrue apologized and reached for the intercom. "What is it?" It was Neumann who had been left in charge of the bridge.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I received a report from Chief Murdoch. Something is going on in the hangar."

xxxxx

With more than a breath of relief Kira dropped the bags on the ground and flopped down on the chair. The hot climate and the weight of the bags was enough to make him draw deep breaths after the first five minutes, how he had managed to stay on his feet for almost an hour was beyond him. It was obvious why Cagalli needed a bodyguard. She needed someone to serve as a cargo carrier. The only danger Kira was protecting her from where the dangers of dehydration and exhaustion by sacrificing himself.

Apparently Cagalli had noticed his tiredness and had decided to take a break. Whether it was her way of apologizing or due to her also getting tired, Kira couldn't tell, but he'd agreed to the suggestion wholeheartedly. This eventually lead to them sitting at the table in one of the numerous cafes that filled the both sides of the street.

"Hmm, looks like we got most of the items." Cagalli perused the list after she was done ordering food for them. "That Flay's or whatever's orders are crazy." Cagalli shot Kira an accusatory look while fluttering the piece of paper. "Erizario brand latex and perfume." Cagalli looked around, searching for an appropriate shop nearby. There were none. "Do they even sell that kind of shit around here?" Her display of annoyance ceased when the waiter arrived, bringing them food Cagalli had ordered.

"What's this?" Kira inspected the unfamiliar dish. It looked like a pancake with meet and fresh vegetables on it.

Cagalli smelled her portion with a great deal of delight. "Doner Kebab. Try it, it's delicious!" She reached for the bottle of chili sauce. "Here, you have to try it with chili sauce, ther…"

"Hey, wait a minute!" An unfamiliar voice cut in. They both saw a grown man, wearing white pants, and a yellow and red polo shirt, hurriedly walking towards them. "Chili sauce on a kebab! Are you out of your mind!" He picked up the bottle of yogurt sauce and held it up as if advertising it. "It is common sense to use yogurt sauce!" The man tried to put an authoritative look on his face, but it was hard to pull off with the sunglasses and had obscuring his face.

"What are…" Cagalli tried to say, but the man, already in his own world, didn't let her continue.

"Okay, maybe not common sense … but rather … it's more like …" He muttered to himself, searching for the right words. "Aha! Got it! Putting chili instead of yogurt sauce on the kebab would be defilement to this dish."

"Hey, I'll put whatever I want on my kebab!" Cagalli declared loud enough for everyone to hear. "As for your defilement … watch this!" Cagalli sprayed a liberal amount of chili sauce on her kebab, wrapped it up and took a large bite, letting out a pleasured moan afterwards. The man recoiled in disgust, whether it was real of fake Kira could not tell.

"How can you do something so horrible! That's just wrong!"

Cagalli paid little attention to his protests and handed the sauce bottle to Kira. "Here, try this one and you will know what delicious means."

However her bottle was pushed away by the other one. "I cannot allow you to do that. While you are beyond redemption, there is no way I'm letting you corrupt this young man." They both began struggling with their sauce bottles, each trying to give Kira their preferred one. Their attempts only resulted in Kira's kebab getting sprayed by both sauces.

Kira gave the kebab a confused look and decided not to say anything. At least those two had stopped bickering and were staring at him with apologizing faces. "Oh, it's nothing." Kira shrugged and proved his point by wrapping the kebab, just like he had seen Cagalli do it, and took a careful bite. To his surprise it was pretty good, only the amount of sauces was a bit too much. "You know, it's not a bad idea mixing up the two, it tastes good."

"I see. Well, I do apologize for this; I sometimes get a little carried away." The man apologized and sat down on the free chair at their table.

"Carried away is putting it mildly." Cagalli mumbled just loud enough for them to hear. However the man didn't seem to hear her, since his attention was focused on Kira and the large bags next to him.

"That's a lot of stuff you kids have there, are you planning a party?"

"That's not your problem!" Cagalli was getting angry; she didn't like being left out of the conversation. "Besides, I already told you to leave, but you keep sitting here and blabbering your mouth …" She was about to say more, but at that moment someone else decided to announce their presence as well.

xxxxx

Many people thought that shooting someone in the middle of the day was easy. You simply walked up to the person or drove by, depending on your taste, and filled the unlucky guy with large amount of lead. The more lead was used, the better the chance the guy wouldn't survive. In a way those people were right. Shooting someone could be very easy. But it also could be very hard. It depended on the target in question.

Kurt carefully peeked over the ledge and sighed. His sigh was both a mixture of relief and frustration. Part of him was happy, in just a few minutes it would soon be over. Several weeks of planning, observation and preparation were about to come to fruition. Already several men of the local Blue Cosmos cell were taking their positions, surrounding the target and preparing for attack.

Their target, ZAFT Commander Andrew Waltfield was completely unaware of the threat bearing down on him, the guy was arguing with two kids about kebab sauces. He was so loud that Kurt could easily hear him from his position on the roof. He stared at the gesturing figure below. The guy was supposed to be a genius, yet here he was discussing kebabs in the middle of the street. Either the guy was an idiot, or he had a lot of faith in his bodyguards.

He scanned the street in both ways as best as possible without drawing attention. There were bound to be bodyguards around, he was certain. Despite the impression Waltfield wasn't so dumb as to wake a stroll in such a dangerous place without any guards escorting him. His eyes paused on a few suspects, but there was no way to tell for sure. No one had the name "bodyguard" written on their foreheads. Oh well, they will just have to adapt to the situation.

"For the blue and pure world!" The Blue Cosmos mantra drew Kurt's attention to the source of his irritation.

"Will you shut the fuck up!" Kurt hissed and elbowed his partner in the ribs. Just his luck to have a fanatical, full to the gills junkie for a partner. He shook his head in disgust. Some Blue Cosmos member he was. He paused that though and was forced to reconsider. Actually most of the organization's members were fanatics and a large number of them had various addictions. Therefore, in a way, Arnold was a fine example of an average Blue Cosmos terrorist. A fanatical devotee who used a lot of "encouragement" to help him carry out his tasks.

Honestly, Kurt was one of the rare few who knew how much Blue Cosmos cared about their loyalties. They didn't. To them, men like Kurt, Arnold and many others were mere pawns. Throwaway pieces. It was logical, since none of them were true Blue Cosmos members. No, those spots were reserved for useful people, not the millions of wannabe pretenders who simply used Blue Cosmos as a shield and excuse for their hatred.

However, the reason why so many people were shouting Blue Cosmos phrases and hunting Coordinators across the entire world was because there was always a chance of recognition. If a person did something noticeable, killed an important Coordinator or donated large sums of money, there was a chance that they might be accepted into the organization. And it was a well known fact that Blue Cosmos members often tended to get richer than they otherwise would have managed. That's why members of Banadiya Blue Cosmos cell were about to assassinate Andrew Waltfield. If they succeeded … Kurt could already see the life of expensive cars and voluptuous women.

Short, fast breaths reminded him that Arnold had forgotten the warning. To make a point he conspicuously checked the safety of his assault rifle. Luckily for Arnold it was on. However Kurt's partner was so far gone, there was no way he could notice the warning. "Why did you have to take those drugs? You'll ruin the entire plan."

"No. No … No way. I won't. Impossible." Arnold vigorously shook his head in denial and gave Kurt an impatient look. Kurt almost groaned, Arnold was full to the gills, his pupils were practically gone, he was breathing like a dog in a hot day and his shaking hands could barely hold the assault rifle he was clutching to his chest like it was his child. "I'll do what I have to do. You'll see. You'll see. I will kill him. Shoot him. The space monster. Yes. I'll tear off his head. You watch. You'll see. Watch. Now." He started getting up, but was pulled back down. His protests died in his throat when a strong hand closed around his throat.

"Stay still ya stupid bastard! If you mess this up it'll be your head we tear from your fucking corpse. No one shoots until we get the signal! After the signal, everyone shoots. Can you get that in your fucked up head!"

"We can't wait. He'll get away." Arnold croaked. "We must do it now. Now. Now. Now!" His voice turned into a whisper while his eyes became wider. Kurt gulped in terror. He knew this expression. When Arnold became like this, he was about to do something incredibly stupid. He dropped his rifle and pushed the man down on the ground. One hand around the neck while the other tried to pry Arnold's weapon from his hands.

"Don't even think about doing something, bastard! Don't even think at all. I swear to whatever god you wor…" His threat was cut short when a decision sparked in Arnold's drugged mind. Moving with the strength only drunks and fanatics had he pushed Kurt off him, despite the fact that Kurt was bigger and was practically sitting on top of him.

"We must act now! He will get away. Hunt the Tiger. Kill him!" Arnold jumped to his feet, getting himself in full view of everyone down on the street, raised his assault rifle above his head like a trophy and yelled as loud as he could. "KILL THE TIGER FOR A BLUE AND PURE WORLD!" His words turned into incoherent screams and laughs as he lowered the rifle and opened fire on the street below.

"FUCK! DAMN IT! YOU BASTARD!" Kurt was almost crying from anger. All that planning, wasted. Gone. Just because Arnold couldn't resist getting a fix just before the crucial part of the plan. He got up this his knees and crawled after his weapon. Might as well try to save what could be saved.

Weapons, other than Arnold's, started firing from below. Whether they were fired by his team members or Waltfield's bodyguards, Kurt couldn't discern. He felt a bit of satisfaction when he saw Arnold stagger and, still screaming, fall over the ledge. _Serves him right!_ Kurt grabbed his assault rifle, waited a second, and rose up, rifle leveled and searching for targets.

The scene had changed drastically. The previously neat and peaceful street had been turned into a battlefield. Waltfield and the two kids he'd been arguing with were hiding behind an overturned table. Kurt noticed several other tables also being used as cover. That answered the question about bodyguards. Ten men, clad in civilian clothes were returning fire on Kurt's friends with their machine pistols, while the assassins fired back for their positions in the first floor of the building Kurt was using.

With Waltfield currently out of the view, Kurt shifted his aim at one of the tables and fired two, short bursts. Much to his disappointment, the rounds pinged off the table's metal surface. He was forced to duck when one of the bodyguards spotted him and hosed his position with a long burst from his weapon.

"Kill the Tiger!" Someone shouted from below. "Death…" The voice died along its owner. Kurt head more screams, all of them terribly familiar. The damned Patchworkers were killing his team! Moving as quickly as possible, he moved along the ledge to a new position. Once there he popped up and fired again.

This time the scream came from his enemies. The same bodyguard who had spotted Kurt let out a blood chilling wail when bullets tore into his left, upper arm, snapping the bone and shredding muscles as they painted the ground dark red, leaving the mangled limb hanging uselessly from the shoulder. More bullets tore big chunks out of the Coordinator's left side, adding bone fragments and more blood to the smear on the ground.

Kurt took cover once again, when the return fire showered his section of the ledge, pelting him with pieces of masonry and dust. Rubbing the dirt from his eyes Kurt waited until the fire slackened and risked a quick glance and felt his anger increase when his eyes took in the scene.

More bodies were lying on the street, all of them Blue Cosmos terrorists. Apparently they had tried to rush ZAFT positions and overwhelm them; however their plan had failed miserably as they were cut down by quick and precise shots. Kurt did a quick mental count and realized that besides him there should be only three or four men left. "Fuck!" He growled again. "This is bad." The good news was that ZAFT had some losses as well. Two bodyguards had been killed when their table succumbed under the determined onslaught of bullets.

After changing location again, he decided to go for broke and empty the remaining magazine into the Waltfield's table. Even if they were made from metal, there was a limit how much punishment those things could withstand, especially against 7.62 mm bullets.

Kurt emerged from his cover and was about to pull the trigger when he saw one of his men. This man, he couldn't tell who it was, silently emerging from the alley, had a clear shot at Waltfield's exposed back. Just a few more seconds and the famous Tiger would be dead. Instantly Kurt realized he had to give his comrade these seconds and he saw no better way of achieving it than focusing everyone's attention on him.

Switching his aim away from Waltfield, lest he would hide behind cover and maybe notice the impending doom, Kurt emptied his rifle on the table closest to Waltfield. The weapon twisted and jerked in his arms as he fought the recoil to keep his gun more or less on target. He was lucky. Again. Another bodyguard went down, decapitated in a gory fashion. Kurt was about to dive behind cover, when a hard blow to his right shoulder made him drop the rifle.

Crying out in pain, he grabbed his shoulder and felt something hot and wet on his fingers. It didn't take a genius to figure out he'd been hit. The burning pain made his vision blurry, but he fought it down as hard as he could. He tried to move his arm and gritted his teeth when the pain increased, however he was relieved to see his arm moving. Even if it hurt like a bitch, he could still use his arm.

Another death scream reminded him how dangerous the situation was. He had to get away from here. It wouldn't take long until the surviving bodyguards arrived and Kurt was certain they wouldn't be feeling merciful, given what he had done to their friends. He'd be lucky if they decided to simply shoot him in the head.

Slowly rising up to a crouch, he put pressure on his wound as best he could and began moving towards the other side of the roof, where a staircase was located. Kurt didn't bother to check if Waltfield was alive or not. There was no time right now. If they had succeeded he'd find out eventually, but right now he had to get out of there.

xxxxx

Loud gunshots briefly drowned out the desperate screams of the wounded man. However, it only helped for a moment and a second later, the screams once again dominated the street. Kira winced away from the sight of the execution being carried out in front of him and checked to see if Cagalli was fine. "Hey, Cagalli, you okay?" The girl nodded silently and wiped the sauce off her forehead. When the shooting had started, the strange man had reacted instantly by knocking over the table while Kira had dived for Cagalli in order to get her out of harm's way. This had resulted in Cagalli getting a great amount of sauce on her clothes and face. Fortunately she didn't seem to mind.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cagalli said after a while and tried to clean herself the best she could. She tried hard to ignore the screams, but it was impossible. With a corner of her eye she saw two men leaning over their wounded friend, trying their best to help.

"Who were those people? Why did they attack us?" Kira asked confusedly. Cagalli, glanced at the nearest body, the attacker Kira had managed to disable, and let out a deep breath. "Probably Blue Cosmos. A lot of terrorist attacks these days are done by their people."

"Commander! Commander!" They spotted a young man, clad in ZAFT's uniform running towards them. He ran past them and stopped in front of the man who had saved them. "Commander. It's good to see you're safe." He spotted the wounded bodyguard. "More help is on the way, but I insist that you get out of here. There might be more terrorists nearby."

"I'm fine and all thanks to this young man." He took off his sunglasses and hat and looked at Kira and Cagalli. "Thank you for saving my life."

Cagalli was petrified. She stared in the man's green eyes and realized that he looked familiar. Every member of the Desert Dawn knew that face. After all, it was the face of their enemy. "Andrew Waltfield." She managed. "The Desert Tiger."

xxxxx

"Gyaaah." The beep with which the Pulverizer's sensors detected the sudden appearance of a new contact, made Daniel jump and nearly drop the laptop. He recollected himself and checked the sensors. The signal was right in front of him, but with the main camera turned off, the Pulverizer being in low power mode due to some tests he needed to run, he couldn't see what the source was. "What's going on out there?" He called and put the laptop aside. He checked the readings again and was surprised to see the contact being identified as the Strike. "What the hell?" He muttered and stood up in the seat to get out of the cockpit and find out what was going on. The Strike shouldn't be active, especially since Kira was supposed to be in Banadiya, playing watchdog for that girl.

He unconsciously licked his lips when he thought about Cagalli. _Damn that girl's hot._ Short, blond hair, fiery attitude and a body that couldn't be hidden from Daniel's expert gaze by mere set of male clothes. In short, she was perfect. The only thing left to do was to let her know she had to be his girl. There was one problem though, when Cagalli wasn't hanging out with Kira, she was with that huge guy who seemed to follow her around like a dog. A big, muscled … Rambo breed dog. But it didn't matter Daniel would overcome that obstacle just like the edge of the Pulverizer's cockpit.

Getting a hold on the edge, Daniel pulled himself up and out of the cockpit. Once outside, he looked at the Strike and frowned. The Mobile Suit definitely was active, the only question was, who was inside? Daniel suspected Chief Murdoch, since the guy was the Chief Engineer and his tasks often included maintenance of all machines, but he was forced to rule that one out when he saw Murdoch on the ground and gesturing at the Strike.

"Hey! What's going on with the Strike." Daniel yelled in Murdoch's direction. The surprised look he received in return was more than slightly unnerving.

"Daniel? What are you doing there? I thought you were inside the Strike." Murdoch yelled back. "I have no…" He was cut off by the Strike's cockpit hatch closing with a loud hiss. Moments later the Strike moved its hands, followed by the arms. "DAMN! WHOEVER IS INSIDE, YOU'D BETTER STOP JOKING AROUND!" He yelled over the noise as the Strike started to take unsteady steps.

"Shit!" Daniel made a run for the elevator when the Strike continued its path, bending the catwalk bridge aside with a loud noise. Obviously the person inside wasn't familiar with the Strike's controls. Hell scratch familiar, the guy had no idea how to pilot a Mobile Suit. Great, just what they needed to liven thing s up. A runaway Gundam.

By the time he reached the ground the more people had arrived, all staring and shouting at the Strike, as it walked towards the other end of the hangar. "We have to stop it!" Someone yelled. Personally, Daniel had misgivings about that suggestion. He had no idea how to stop the Mobile Suit. The only chance they seemed to have was to talk the pilot into stopping his joyride.

"Does anyone know who's inside?" Daniel asked once he reached the crowd. Miriallia, Tolle, Kuzzey and Flay were already there. All except for Sai, who was absent. It was the absence that raised some ideas about who exactly was inside the Strike.

Daniel's suspicions increased further when they all heard one of the mechanics. "Chief, that guy … Sai, was loitering around a while ago."

"Sai?" Miriallia gasped and stared at the Strike incredulously. "Sai's inside the Strike? Why?" Further discussions were interrupted when the Mobile Suit staggered at the end of the hangar. Everyone ran for cover, obviously no one wanted to get hurt by a falling Mobile Suit. Daniel, along with Mu, Flay and several mechanics sought refuge behind a stack of crates near the wall.

They all held their breaths, watching the Strike and expecting it to come down with all the weight of a sixty four ton war machine. Luckily for them it didn't turn into a disaster. The Gundam took another shaky step and the collapsed on its knees, stopping the fall with its arms a second later. The Strike remained motionless and silent after that. A deafening silence descended across the hangar as everyone cautiously approached the Gundam. Then they heard crying.

xxxxx

Kira gulped when he saw the number of guards waiting for them at the mansion Waltfield used as his headquarters. And not just soldiers were there. Four GINNs and a pair of BuCues stood on the sides of the courtyard, with many more positioned in the surrounding area while the Lesseps land battleship loomed behind the mansion, dwarfing it like Mobile Suits made people look small.

The jeep stopped in front of the stairs, where a large number of guards met them. "Here we are, follow me." Waltfield beckoned and got out of the car.

"Uh, you really don't have to do this … we're fine as it is." Kira wasn't comfortable with the thought of going further into the Tiger's lair. Of course, his opinion barely mattered right now. With several soldiers surrounding them Waltfield was completely in control of the situation.

"No, no … I can't accept that." Waltfield noticed Kira's perturbation and tried to remedy it with an assuring smile. "I ruined your rest and you even saved my life, I must repay you for it … Plus the girl's clothes are a mess. I can't let her go like that. That's my policy. Please, come inside." He finished in a tone which told them they didn't really have much of a choice and left. One of the guards put even more pressure on them by opening the doors on Cagalli's side so that she could get out. Kira gulped again. They really didn't have a choice.

"C'mon, Cagalli. Let's go." He said quietly and got out of the car. Behind him Cagalli did the same. Though covered in sauces Cagalli held her composure and ignored the ZAFT soldiers around them.

They both followed Waltfield up the stairs into the mansion and found themselves standing in a hallway, where a young, black haired woman, dressed in a blue costume, awaited them. "Is that the kid, Andy?" She asked in a joyful voice.

"Yes, Aisha." Waltfield's voice sounded from the room she had just left. "Wash her please. She's pummeled with yogurt sauce and that other, vile chili substance."

Aisha approached them and arched her eyebrows in amusement as she observed the state Cagalli was in. "My, my. You probably didn't agree with Andy's opinion about kebab sauces." She let out a short chuckle and placed her arm around Cagalli's shoulders after nodding to the guard behind them to close the doors. "Here, come this way." She gently guided Cagalli down the hallway before the girl could manage a protest.

"Cagalli …" Kira watched them both leave, trying to come up with something more to say, but was completely unable to.

"Don't worry." Aisha assured. "She'll be done in no time. You can wait with Andy."

"Hey, kid, come over here." Waltfield called him from his room. After realizing that there was nothing else he could do for Cagalli, Kira decided to leave her in Aisha's care and do as he was told.

The smell of coffee was the first thing that met Kira when he entered the room. He looked for the source of the smell and saw Waltfield standing next to a coffeemaker. "I have a little hobby in making my own coffee, a bit of confidence in it too." Waltfield felt Kira's gaze on his back and turned around. "It will be ready in a moment; you can sit there and relax." He gestured towards a pair of sofas. "Come on, don't just stand there." He encouraged upon seeing Kira's hesitation.

The said sofas were located next to large windows, presenting Kira with a beautiful view of the garden outside. A simple desk was positioned in the far right corner while a fireplace was built into the wall to Kira's left. A small object on top of the fireplace caught Kira's attention as he made his way towards the sofa. It turned out to be a small sized replica of the famous artifact, found on one of Jupiter's moons during the expedition of George Glenn, Evidence 01.

Kira approached the fireplace and took a close look. Just as he expected the replica also included the fossil of a strange creature. While no one could make out what it exactly was, many agreed that the creature looked a lot like a winged whale.

"Evidence 01." Waltfield walked up from behind, holding two cups of coffee, one of which he offered to Kira. "Have you seen the actual thing?"

"No…" Kira took the cup and gave the replica another look.

"I wonder why they call this a whale? I mean, does it look like a whale?"

"No, if you put it that way…"

"No matter how you look at it, it does look like a wing, right?" Waltfield pointed at the part which certainly looked like the body part most people saw it as. "However, whales don't have wings. Why call it a whale?"

"No, they don't" Kira agreed. "But if it's not a whale then what is it?"

Waltfield took a sip of his coffee and smiled. "Well, if you ask it like that, it's hard to answer ... By the way how's the coffee?" He pointed at the cup in Kira's hands. Kira took a small sip and coughed slightly. He had no idea what it was, but it wasn't a coffee. Walftield noticed the look on Kira's face and laughed. "It seems you haven't reached the age when you can enjoy the taste adults appreciate." He laughed again and went to sit down on the sofa.

"However, despite how nice that thing is, its biggest value is the impact it made on this worlds." Waltfield continued once Kira had taken a seat as well.

"Impact?"

"Think about it. Think about the impact it made when it was brought back to Earth. The proof that intelligence other than ours exists. The impact it made on science and traditional views ... If we were able to make this discovery thanks to science then what other wonders we could achieve? Think of the potential advancement of humanity with every achievement we make." He paused to take another sip. "But at the same time potential is also the root of this war." He added in a more serious voice, causing an uncomfortable silence, during which Kira carefully moved a bit away from the Commander.

Fortunately, a knock on the door interrupted the silence. "Andy." Kira heard Aisha's voice shortly before she opened the door and stepped inside. At first Kira couldn't see Cagalli, but then he spotted her hiding behind Aisha's back, with her face flushed red from embarrassment. "Oh, come on." Aisha adroitly moved around her and gave Cagalli a slight shove, making her stagger further inside the room.

Kira gasped when he fully saw the dress Cagalli was wearing. A light green strapless, full length dress with an exposed back. It certainly looked good on her and probably for the first time Kira noticed how attractive Cagalli was. Not only how good she looked in that dress, but how she looked as a girl. "A … girl." Kira stood up as he muttered the last two words.

Immediately, the shy and embarrassed girl was gone and Cagalli was back. "What the hell do you mean "a girl"?"

"No, wait, I was going to say "you were a girl?"."

"That's exactly the same thing!" Cagalli yelled. A series of laughs from Waltfield and Aisha defused the tension between the two teenagers. As they stood in the middle of the room, looking awfully embarrassed by themselves. "Thank you, Aisha. That will be all for now." Waltfield sighed as he stopped laughing and wiped a tear from his eye. He once again pointed at the sofa, urging them to sit down, while he prepared a cup of coffee for Cagalli.

"You know, that dress looks very good on you." Waltfield said after a moment, placing the cup in front of Cagalli and taking his place on the other side of the table. "It's not only good, but … you could say this appearance looks like your true appearance."

"Say whatever the hell you want." Cagalli retorted and took a sip of the coffee. She almost choked when she realized the coffee tasted a bit differently than the one she usually drank, but in order to keep hear appearance she forced herself not to cough.

"She'd be perfect if it weren't for her mouth." Waltfield commented to no one in particular.

"So you really are the Desert Tiger? … Why do you make me wear this kind of dress? Is this one of your frequent hobbies?"

"The person who gave you this dress was Aisha." Waltfield pointed out. "And what do you mean by one of my frequent hobbies?"

"Dressing up and playing around in the city. Or evacuating the villagers and then burning down their homes." Cagalli glared at him. She didn't care if they were surrounded by ZAFT soldiers; there was no way she would allow this guy walk all over her.

Waltfield met her glare and stared in her eyes for a moment. "You have very keen eyes. Very pretty eyes…"

"Stop playing around with me!" Cagalli jumped to her feet banging her hands on the table for effect. In return, Waltfield's eyes turned just as keen and serious as Cagalli's.

"So you would prefer if I simply shot you?" He looked at Kira. "You, what do you think about that? What do you think must be done for this war to be over? As a Mobile Suit's pilot, tell me." He ignored the gasps and walked over to the small desk. At the same time Kira led Cagalli further away from him, moving her behind his back. "How do you decide the victor? From where do you draw the line? … Annihilating all the enemies. Isn't it?" Waltfield turned around and pointed a gun at them.

Kira scanned the room for anything useful. Nothing. The windows were too high and the doors were too far to make a run for it. He contemplated trying it anyway, but then he realized that it would be hard for Cagalli to keep up with him. Especially in that dress and those shoes, and there was no way he would leave her behind.

"Don't even think about it." Waltfield warned. It was plain to see the boy was searching for a way to escape. "Even if you are a Coordinator, you really think you'll be able to waltz out of here?" The boy hadn't been expecting that. He could see it in his eyes and judging from the gasp, the girl was unaware of it as well. "Everyone here is a Coordinator; just like you … I've seen you in combat twice. The surface pressure of the desert and the thermal convection ... you seem to have exceptional abilities, even amongst Coordinators. I'm not naïve enough as to think that kind of a pilot is a Natural. Do I look like an idiot?"

"Now, I don't know why you've decided to side against your own kind, but since you are the pilot of that Mobile Suit, you and I are enemies. That means one of us has got to disappear." He stared at them for a while and then smiled. "However, today you saved my life and this place isn't a battlefield." He placed the pistol back in the drawer and pressed a button on the intercom, summoning Aisha to open the doors. "Go home. I had fun talking with you. Of course I don't know if you'll think the same."

Seeing that nothing else could be gained here, Kira decided to use the chance and leave. Just as he was about to exit the room, Waltfield spoke again. "Goodbye ... And let's meet each other on the battlefield."

xxxxx

"That fucking bastard! Why didn't he tell me how big this place was?" Jack surveyed the desert around him and glared at the transport plane far in the distance. He picked up a lump of dirt from the sand and hurled it after the plane. "Come back you stupid fucks! How am I supposed to find that thing in the middle of a desert!" He yelled and was about to throw the helmet he had in his other hand, but decided against it. A helmet full of sand would only make things harder.

Still cursing his client, Jack headed back to his AC, the Dingo. The ginger-yellow and white machine shone in the sun as if had been made of gold and platinum. "Stop shining and get ready for work!" Jack warned, though he could not help but smile at the sight of his AC. The Dingo was his pride and partner, a true work of art.

Weighing thirty five tons and standing seventeen meters high, the Dingo was classified as a middleweight AC. Just the way Jack liked it. No fancy moves in a machine that fell apart as soon as someone so much as sneezed at it and no lumbering piles of metal. Just pure and deadly efficiency.

Still smiling, Jack took another look at the weapons. Even though he knew them by heart, he never grew tired of watching them. The primary weapon in the Dingo's right hand was a 120 mm heavy machine gun. It was a beast of a weapon and the damage potential on full auto was terrifying. The only flaw was that the weapon wasn't known for its accuracy, but that didn't bother Jack. As long as he kept firing he was bound to hit something.

The other hand was empty, but like any other AC, the left forearm was slightly bulkier. This meant that the said forearm was equipped with the trademark laser blade, a weapon all ACs had. The only difference was that Dingo's laser blade was classified as an offensive type weapon, which was longer and more intense than a defensive type laser blade.

Folded in half and mounted behind the left shoulder was the good, old 155 mm cannon. Unlike the classic versions, this one was slightly modified and possessed the twin magazine system. This allowed Jack to choose which type of a round to fire. Either a high explosive or an armor piercing round. In all other aspects the weapon was similar to the standard version. The last weapon the Dingo had was a 12 tube vertical missile launcher behind the right shoulder.

"All in all, a simple, all-round machine." Jack's smile grew into a laugh. Sure, the Dingo looked like an average middleweight, but it also had an ace up its sleeve. The top part of its back held a system known as the Overboost system. A relatively new invention, capable of accelerating his AC to an extremely high speed, if only for a few minutes. Naturally, the system had flaws, short duration and almost no maneuverability being the biggest of them. However, Jack didn't care about the flaws. The system had saved his ass several times in past. Besides it was nice to have a few surprises in store.

"Ahh, I can't wait to see how those stupid Mobile Suits will fare against us." Jack said excitedly. "But enough dreaming. First, we have to find the Archangel."


	21. The great hunt

"Hey, blondie, wait a moment." A boyish voice called out from behind, as Cagalli made her way across the Archangel's hangar to where a group of teenagers were clustered around a simulator. She had been hoping to relax a little, by trying her hand on the simulators and perhaps even enjoy some much needed company.

The last few days since their return from Banadiya had been very stressful. With the Archangel getting fully repaired, Sahib had finally decided to bring his plan to fruition, to get rid of the Tiger once and for all. In order to prevent drawing any kind of unwanted attention he had prohibited everyone from leaving the camp. Though Cagalli understood the reason behind it, she couldn't help but feel annoyed by having to stay in one place. The only way for her to vent the growing frustration was to either take short walks away from the camp during the night, or shoot down artificial Mobile Suits in the simulator.

However, it seemed that this day was going to be one of those days when she stumbled on a new source of irritation. _Blondie?_ Cagalli stopped in mid step and looked in the direction the voice had come from. She instantly recognized the person walking towards her. Daniel Stokes, pilot of the Pulverizer. Cagalli hadn't met the guy before, but she had heard a few things about him from Kira. None of which, however, were about Daniel's personality. Of course, it hardly mattered; Cagalli was already making her own assumptions. And not the best ones.

Now that Cagalli had heard him and was waiting for him, Daniel adopted a more appropriate pose, as he walked towards her. Putting on a slightly cocky grin, running his hand trough his hair and placing the other one in his back pocket. "Hey, how are you?" He stopped in front of her and let his eyes wonder for a moment.

"What do you want?" Cagalli said in a cold tone and frowned. The guy was obviously trying to impress her, by putting on the rebellious ace act. Needless to say, it failed. Horribly. He was a bit too skinny to successfully pull it off. It also didn't help matters how he was staring at her. Not at her face, but her body.

Daniel's eyes returned back to meet hers, lingering on the girl's shoulders for a moment. Cagalli had very attractive shoulders. He noted. Perhaps it was some sort of fetish or something else, but one of the things that he liked most about a girl was her shoulders. The way they formed the frame of the girl or the way they led to the rest of her body, whether they were exposed or hidden under clothes, shoulders were something he could look a lot at. "Oh, yeah … you know I was wondering … maybe you could use some company. Have some fun or something like that."

"Well, if I want some company, rest assured, you certainly won't be the person I'll turn to." Cagalli stared at him incredulously. There was no way he had just attempted to ask her out. It was impossible; no guy would ever ask a girl out with such a terrible line and expect to succeed. One look at Daniel's face was enough. The guy was serious. Not only that, but he looked like he believed that he had dropped a real gem and was completely irresistible. "Didn't you hear me? I'm not interested in you?" Cagalli repeated since Daniel had obviously missed the hint.

"You're not? … Why?" The cocky grin disappeared, only to return a second later. "Ah, I see, you're playing with me. You're just pretending that you don't care about me. While in reality you…" The grin disappeared once again, along with the voice when Cagalli suddenly stepped forward, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down, so that their eyes were at the same level.

"I'll tell you this one last time. I'm not interested in spending my time with you." Cagalli growled in his face. "I don't know where you got this stupid idea, but I advise you to forget it, because if you don't…" Instead of finishing the threat, she raised her fist where Daniel could see it. "Oh and by the way, the next time you try your stupid pickup line, look in the eyes not at the breasts." She let him go and stormed off, smiling a little, once Daniel couldn't see her face. Now that she had vented a portion of her frustration, Cagalli felt much better. She had finally found one of those special persons. The arrogant jerk who saw himself as a gift to all women and could be treated like crap that they were, without any bad feelings on her part.

Daniel watched her leave with a confused look on his face. Everything was over so fast he still tried to figure out what really had happened. It looked like Cagalli was pissed. However he couldn't see any reason why. He had been honest, open and polite and he had told her he was interested in her, so why was she walking away? He rubbed his forehead in concentration. Didn't girls like honest guys who were concerned about them? Or was there something else? Maybe he shouldn't have laid out his cards so quickly? But if he didn't, then he wouldn't be being honest towards her. So what the hell was wrong?

"Wow, I've never seen a guy get turned down so quickly." A female voice, with signs of barely restrained laughter heavily evident, said from nearby. "Of course when they say that you're supposed to be honest with a girl, I don't think this is what they meant." Daniel looked to see who it was and found himself staring in Maria's green eyes. The woman had a wide smile plastered on her face, as she looked at Daniel then at Cagalli. "She was right. Your pickup line was awful."

"Awful? Impossible! It included everything a girl wants to know about a guy. I was honest, caring and genuinely interested." Daniel shook his head vigorously and spared a quick look at Cagalli. "Another one who doesn't understand class … oh well, her loss … However, maybe she was joking? I should try again."

"Don't. Cagalli is not a girl you pick. She picks you. And if she's not interested in you, then there is nothing you can do to change her mind." Maria advised, fighting for a straight face. She watched the boy sag a little when her words registered and decided to change the topic in order to keep his mind on something else. "So, I guess you're the pilot of that thing, huh?" Maria indicated the Pulverizer, standing not far from them, light blue lines of pulsing light forming something of a skeletal structure.

Daniel chewed his lip and decided to give up. For now. He also looked at the Pulverizer and nodded. "Yes. That's me. Daniel Stokes and that thing is the Pulverizer. And who are you? Hey. Where are you going?" Daniel asked and hurried after the brown haired woman.

"Interesting. I wonder why it's called the Pulverizer?" Maria failed to hear his questions; her attention was fully fixed on the Muscle Tracer, as she walked towards it. "Hmm, sure does look different from what I'm used to see." Her green eyes flowed across the surfaces, pausing at the scorched section on the Pulverizer's side and the differently colored shin, which also lacked the glowing line. "My, my, you've messed it up a little didn't you?" She clacked her tongue as if scolding a disobedient child.

"It's not my fault. And you still haven't said who…" The realization dawned suddenly. "I know who you are? You're that crazy tank woman."

"What!?" Maria's head snapped towards him, causing Daniel to come to a halt. Then he took a step back, when he spotted the rank insignias. He gulped audibly, he had pissed off another Major, it seemed to be becoming a skill of his, or rather, a curse.

"Uhh, sorry … ma'am!" Daniel added quickly. The encounter with Domenic was still fresh in his mind. While it seemed impossible that this woman would threaten to shoot him, he was still being careful. Just in case.

Maria narrowed her eyes. "Ma'am? How old do I look?" Even Daniel, who usually had situational awareness of a very dense brick, realized it was a rhetorical question. "Don't address me as if I was a granny. It's either Maria or Major Williams. Got it?" Vigorous nods. "Good, now what did say earlier?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Maria continued to stare at him for some time, before a narrow, satisfied smile settled on her lips. "I thought so. Then, how about you tell me more about this thing? How can you pilot it?"

Seeing that the storm was over, Daniel walked over to her and began to explain what he knew about the Pulverizer and its systems. Maria turned out to be a very good listener, she rarely asked to explain anything and didn't put any pressure on him at all. It was a lot easier to tell her about the Pulverizer, than it was telling it to Domenic, who had extracted the information at gunpoint. However, when Daniel reached the part where he told her about the opponents he had defeated, the reaction wasn't that much different.

"GINNs? You have shot down several GINNs on your own and even damaged a Laurasia class warship?" Maria laughed incredulously for several moments. "What were you fighting? A bunch of brain dead retards?" She wiped a single tear from her eye as she calmed down.

Daniel gave her a hurt look. "You're just like that jackass I met in space! Is it so hard to believe that I'm capable of defeating a Mobile Suit? Sure, I don't pull off tricks like Kira does, but I can take care of myself."

"Didn't look like it when you fought against Bucues. Truth be told, you sucked." Maria pointed out mercilessly. "However, facing Bucues for the first time is a life changing experience. You have no idea how many soldiers have been killed by those monsters." She looked at him encouragingly, almost admiringly. "Besides, since your friend is a Coordinator, it makes you the first Natural who has piloted this kind of machine against ZAFT in combat. Whatever you do, will affect how many people view these things. Being the first of a new kind is never easy."

"Wow." Daniel frowned as he considered that. "You know, I never thought about it that way. Being the first Natural pilot." He instantly saw the appeal of his situation. "It does sound awesome; you think Cagalli would see it from the right angle as well?"

Maria rolled her eyes. Here she was trying to explain the seriousness of the situation to this boy, but all he could think of was getting himself a girl. "You don't think about much, other than girls, do you? … By the way who's the jackass you mentioned before?"

Daniel stopped stroking his chin and shrugged. "Some guy, who wanted to know a few things about the Pulverizer. Real bastard, almost blew my brains out. I think his name was D-something Moore."

"Domenic Moore!?" Maria exclaimed in surprise. "About this high, blond hair, pale skin?"

"Yeah, I think so." Daniel eyes her suspiciously, confused by the sudden reaction.

"He is alive!? Domenic is alive!?" Maira muttered excitedly, practically shaking from joy. "So he survived. I can't believe it. That bastard actually survived."

"Uh, ma… Major Williams. What are you talking about?"

Maria took a couple of breaths to calm down. It was hard, but she managed. Still, the realization was more than enough to make her voice tremble. Hearing that Domenic was alive was like seeing a person walk on water. It was impossible. "Domenic Moore … I knew … know him, actually. I thought he was dead, but apparently he is alive and, judging from what he almost did to you, he hasn't changed much."

"I see." Daniel said slowly. He wasn't exactly interested to hear about his Domenic guy, but it seemed that for Maria this was very big news. He waited for her to say something, but she was lost in her mind. When the silence grew uncomfortable, he cleared his throat. "Is there anything else you want from me? … If not, then I'll be going." When no answer came, he turned to leave, but he barely made a single step when Maria's hand grabbed him by his collar. She had a strong grip, Daniel noted.

"No, you're not going anywhere yet." Maria dragged him along, as she made her way towards the elevator, which would take them to the Pulverizer's cockpit. "You called me a crazy tank woman, remember? Therefore, the only way I'll let you off the hook is if you show me the cockpit … And don't bother struggling, you have absolutely no choice in this matter. Understood?" She pulled him on the elevator next to her and activated the equipment.

Daniel somberly looked at the slowly withdrawing ground. "Yes, ma'am… I mean Maria."

xxxxx

"Zuoots? They're sending us Zuoots?" Waltfield stared incredulously at the Mobile Suits in question. The assault type Mobile Suits were being carefully unloaded from the cargo planes scattered across the nearby desert. "What are those guys in Gibraltar thinking!? I specifically requested Bucues not these pieces of crap." He rubbed his chin in frustration and turned his glare at DaCosta, who was studying the cargo manifest and the report.

"It seems so, sir. They say that the remaining Bucues are scheduled for upgrades and they could only spare a few of the new models to send us." He went through the pages, running his eyes over the information they held. "Yeah, it seems it'll be more than a week before we will receive additional Bucues … I guess that's why they included those guys in the package. A way to make it up to us." He flicked his eyes at two transport planes. One of them was going through the last landing procedures, while the second one had already landed and opened its cargo hold. Inside there were two Mobile Suits, the Buster and the Duel. The so called "specialists" regarding the Archangel problem. The other transport plane held another specialist, one sent to take out the Pulverizer.

Waltfield eyed the two Gundams walking out of their transport and crossing the desert towards the Lesseps. "Le Creuset Team, huh? I'm not that sure I'm happy about them being here. Something about that man rubs me the wrong way."

"Could it be that he has no terrestrial experience? And so do his subordinates?" DaCosta supplied, disdain ground soldiers had for spacers clearly evident in his voice.

Waltfield shrugged. "Partially yes. Of course I don't think it's wise to judge pilots before I've met them. So let's hold our judgment until then."

The two Gundams stopped not far from them and soon, their cockpits popped open and the pilots emerged. "Welcome to Earth." DaCosta quietly muttered with a faint smirk when he saw one of the pilots stumble a little in the sand, while the other one, having removed his helmet, caught a handful of dust in his face when a sudden breeze blew past them.

"They say the beauty of desert is best experienced in person." Waltfield greeted the two pilots as they approached, the one with the blond hair still coughing slightly. "Welcome. I am Commander Andrew Waltfield.

"Yzak Joule from the Le Creuset team." Yzak replied and saluted.

"Dearka Elsman, same team." Dearka introduced himself and repeated Yzak's gesture.

Waltfield returned their salutes and smiled when he saw the scar on Yzak's face. "Someone who doesn't get rid of a removable scar means that he has an oath kept on that scar." When Yzak snorted and looked away Waltfield's eyes narrowed. "And if you look away like that, it means you got the scar in a humiliating way." He enjoyed poking fun at the frustrated pilot and would have continued it, if not for something that caught his eye in the distance. "Ahh, it looks like the mercenary who was sent to help you is about to join us." Everyone turned to look at the transport plane Waltfield was talking about.

The AC that stepped out of the transport plane looked far too fragile to imagine it in the middle of a battle. The skeletal limbs looked barely strong enough to hold the weapons in its arms. Even the chest, or the core, as it was called, looked a lot thinner and lighter than the one Dearka and Yzak had seen on the Nine Ball.

The AC was white and silver in color, with white serving as the base color whereas silver the trims of the main parts. All the joints and whatever wasn't covered with armor plates was solid black. The weaponry, at least what they could see, consisted of a long barreled carbine in the right hand. Another light weapon, looking just like the laser carbine Yzak had seen in space, was held in the left hand. There were two more weapons, partially hidden behind the large shoulders. Behind the left shoulder was what looked like a three tube missile launcher, with a large ammunition compartment. As for the right side, the two short barrels were of the same make as the assumed laser weapon in the AC's hand, leading everyone to assume that it was some kind of an energy weapon as well.

The AC moved to stand next to the Buster. Though it was perhaps just two meters shorter than the artillery role Gundam, it looked like a gymnast standing next to a wrestler. Despite not looking the least like a proper combat machine, the AC possessed an aura of aggressiveness. Now that Yzak was able to get a good look at it, he could definitely feel it. The entire machine seemed like a barely constrained beast, ready to pounce on its prey at the moment's notice.

The AC stood motionless for a moment and then sagged slightly, as the systems were shut down. A moment later, the middle part of the protruding back, just where a person's spine should be, began sliding outwards. The part moved further away from the main machine, eventually revealing a pilot's seat attached to it. The pilot stood up and stretched himself, or herself, no one could really tell. Grabbing a cable, similar to the ones used in Mobile Suits, from the support shaft above, the pilot began the descent to the ground.

Unlike Yzak and Dearka, the pilot didn't stumble upon reaching the ground. Still walking towards them, the pilot removed the helmet, revealing a girl's face underneath. The fact that the pilot was a girl was much more obvious now that she was closer. The grey and white flight suit, which was a more form fitting one, revealed plenty of clues about the pilot's gender.

"Nice legs." Yzak heard Dearka's comment and had to agree. Long legs, leading to a body, which had a slender and athletic build and filled out the flight suit rather nicely. The girl looked to be approximately sixteen or seventeen, at least her face revealed as much.

"'ello boys!" The girl said in a cheery voice, her golden yellow eyes scanning everyone nearby, as she pulled out her french braid from behind the suit's collar. Her black hair easily reaching the middle of her back. "I am Juliet Thule. I've been temporarily attached to the Le Creuset Team to deal with the Pulverizer problem ... These papers should make everything clear." Juliet opened the pocket on her right thigh and pulled out a few documents, which she handed over to Waltfield.

"Juliet huh? Unusual name." Dearka grinned while Waltfield examined the documents. "Where's Romeo?"

Juliet smiled back and pointed over her shoulder in the AC's direction, while brushing an errant strand, holding three small beads, out of her left eye with the same motion. "Romeo is right over there." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked them over. To Yzak it looked just the same as a guy inspecting a very attractive girl. "Hmm, I guess you two are my new partners. What are your names?"

Dearka brushed past Yzak, closer to Juliet, and held out his hand. "The name's Dearka. Dearka Elsman." He shook the girl's hand and jerked his head towards Yzak. "The silent guy over there is Yzak Joule."

"I can introduce myself, Dearka ... As he already said I am Yzak Joule. That's all you need to know." Yzak cut in icily and gave Juliet a short nod. Unlike Dearka, Yzak didn't like that entire touchy-feely thing. The only time he actually laid his hands on someone was to kick their ass. And clearly this girl wasn't in his "to hurt" list, therefore physical contact wasn't required.

It wasn't like he disliked the girl, in fact quite the opposite, she was quite attractive. He took a slightly bigger breath when he saw Juliet eying him appraisingly, with one eyebrow raised and a mischievous glint in her eyes. However, she was also a Natural. And while Yzak didn't particularly hate Naturals, growing up in an environment where Naturals were seen with contempt and even hate, did leave its marks. Furthermore, ZAFT propaganda wasn't exactly into praising Naturals either. A lot of people he knew, even Dearka, were influenced by it. Though apparently Dearka hadn't reached that line of thought yet.

The real reason why he didn't like this girl being around was that it constantly reminded him that Commander Le Creuset apparently saw them as unable to deal with such a simple task like blowing up one ship and its two Mobile Suits. Therefore the addition of another team member was necessary. Sure, it would increase their combat effectiveness, since Juliet was supposedly experienced with those Pulverizers, but it also picked at his pride. The sooner she wasted that machine and left, the better.

Meanwhile Waltfield was done with the documents and passed them back to Juliet. "Everything seems fine. Welcome to Earth, young lady. I am Andre Waltfield and this is my aide Matrin DaCosta. Now then, I assume you want to know more about the Archangel. Correct? … The ship is at the resistance's base, about 180 kilometers south-east of here. We sent a remote controlled drone over there. It should be right over their base right now. Please, follow me, we should check the video feed and see what they are up to." He beckoned them to follow him inside the Lesseps.

After a short trip they all ended up on the Lesseps's bridge, where Waltfield led them to where one of his officers working on the controls of the drone and maintaining the video feed. The first thing they all saw was the desert. A second later everyone saw the same object.

"The Archangel." Yzak said trough gritted teeth.

The officer glanced over his shoulder and reported. "Sir, they have started to move. They're moving north north-west. From what I see they have gathered their entire force. More than twenty of those jeeps and approximately a dozen of heavier fighting vehicles. A mixture of IFVs, one or two APCs and a few tanks."

Waltfield leaned closer, to get a better view. "They're heading towards the old Darpadia mining complex. In their position I'd do the same thing. That if they manage to get a few anti-air positions there, it would seriously endanger our supply runs … Good move." He studied the number of enemies and frowned. Something wasn't right. "Can you give me a bigger view of the area? Do they have any additional forces nearby?"

"No, sir. We made several runs over the surrounding area, but there's nothing more." The officer replied and called up several images, consisting of various scans of a much wider area. As expected, other than the Archangel and its tiny escorts, there was nothing else.

"I see. Well, we can't allow them to reach their destination; we'll have to intercept them before they have a chance to fortify their positions. I wanted to wait a little longer, but it seems it can't be helped."

"We're going out?" Yzak perked up, his eyes burning with anticipation.

"Yes. Lesseps, prepare to move out." Waltfield ordered the crew, the very same fire burning in his eyes as well. "You three get your machines on the Lesseps and be ready. It's about time we put an end to this resistance."

xxxxx

_Hey, sis! I know I haven't written anything for a while, but things have been hectic lately. It's nothing serious, so don't worry, I'll explain later. Anyway how are you? Still working on that super secret project of yours? I can't wait until I found out more about those things you guys are building up there! Mobile Suits and everything, cool! Yes, I know you don't like it when I mention these things and yes, I still remember what dad told us about classified information, I mean who can forget his lectures every time I try to write something? However, since you're the one who told me about it, I'm hardly the one to blame, so take some responsibility as well!_

_By the way, thanks for the gift you sent me for my birthday! The scope is awesome! And you even managed to get one made in Germany! Looks like you remembered what I told you about those things. Thanks! I can only imagine how hard it was for you to get such a high grade thing like that! Thanks! I'm really, really grateful! You're the best! I just can't wait until I get to try this thing out on the range! One thing, though, mom wasn't exactly happy when she saw the gift, she started to worry and said that I'm too young and so on. You know how she gets whenever something has to do with the military._

_Anyway, there is one problem. It's nothing too serious, I think, but dad was very upset when he found out about it. You see, he went to the school one day, yes the very same you once went to, for some kind of a meeting and he found out I had decided not to study in the academy, like everyone else in the family. I have never seen him that mad when he got home that evening, for a moment I was really worried about him, you know how his heart sometimes acts up a little. Well, it turned out that was not the case, his heart was fine, he almost skinned me alive and we had more than a little talk. Have you ever sat in a chair and talked for more than five hours? I could barely feel my ass. _

_The reason why I don't want to study there is that I don't think I want to serve in the fleet. Sure, the idea of having your own ship, maybe even the kind you're building, does sound attractive sometimes, but that's not me. I'm not a leader, I'm a follower. I want my freedom. Not the anarchy type freedom, but the kind of being alone. Being trapped on a bridge or anywhere else on the ship with dozens or hundreds of other people, that's not for me. I want to be alone. I want to be a Mobile Armor pilot. Maybe they'll even let me pilot one of those Zeros. I took some tests and they said I have that awareness thing the Zero pilots need._

_When I told dad about it, you can probably guess he wasn't happy. To him, being a Mobile Armor pilot is equal to instant death. However, I've decided, I won't change my mind! Even if it means going against the traditions of the entire family. Besides, who knows, maybe our family is suited to be pilots as well, not just bridge officers. _

_I think I managed to convince dad about my decision eventually, but he does try to talk me out of it from time to time. Still, I think he's starting to accept my decision, though he did point out that I'm the black sheep of the family. Somehow, that doesn't worry me; in fact it kinda makes me unique. Maybe I'll be such a good pilot that I'll become famous, just like the Hawk of Endymion. Ace Marco Badgiruel, I like the sound of that. _

_I guess that's pretty much it. Everyone, especially dad, wants to know that they miss you and I wish you the best of luck in your project. Mom wants to tell you to be careful, but I guess that's one thing none of us has to worry about. You always were the careful one. _

_Love and everything else of that sort,_

_Marco Badgiruel _

_P.S. I tried out the scope on Jenny, living across the street. It's very good, excellent magnification; it lets you see even the tiniest details._

Natarle folded the letter with an amused sigh and put it away. Technically she wasn't supposed to read letters, during time when the entire ship was heading into combat. However, she wasn't exactly reading it either. Natarle had read it so many times, that it was more like looking it over than reading it. Besides, she was excellent at multitasking; doing three or more separate things at the same time was easy. It was one of the qualities that made her such a good bridge officer.

Her mind still lingered on the letter she had received almost two months ago. It looked like her little brother was stirring up trouble back home with his rebellious attitude. Going against the family traditions when it came to military service would truly make him the black sheep of the family. At least father hadn't disowned him. Traditions meant everything for him and seeing one of his own children refusing to follow said traditions was pretty much like a nightmare to him. Natarle was sure of that.

The thought of Marco made her smile one of her rare smiles. Despite the large gap between their ages, they were really close. It had been more than four months since Natarle had last seen Marco and she really did miss him. Perhaps it was due to the fact that Marco had never caused her trouble, like younger brothers usually did. Or maybe it was how children were raised in the Badgiruel family. Respect towards those older than you was just one of the things their parents tried hard to instill in them.

Natarle sighed again and decided to visit her family as soon as possible, even if it did seem that any chance of returning home was very far in the future. More than that, if things went wrong she might never see her family again. Natarle banished the thought instantly. Such thoughts were the last thing she needed right now. She would return home. That was a fact.

At the same time she finished the thought, the sound of several explosions reached hers, and everyone else's, ears. It took only a glance outside, to see a wall of fire and smoke in the distance. A massive artillery barrage had racked the area just about where the Darpadia mines used to be.

"Airborne enemy signals on radar! Can't get an accurate reading do to angle of approach, probably gunships. Two large heat signals behind them. Scans indicate them as … one Lesseps class and one Petrie class land battleships." The radar operator's voice choked slightly, as he informed them few moments after the sudden barrage.

"All personnel, prepare for anti-ship and anti-Mobile Suit battle!" Murrue ordered in a steely voice. It looked like their plan had succeeded a little more than they expected. Relocation to Darpadia mines was meant as bait, to lure out some of the Tiger's forces. Unfortunately it looked like they had succeeded in drawing out the entirety of enemy forces. They had bitten off a lot more than they wanted, not it was time to see if they could chew it as well.

xxxxx

_Forget the Bucues! Forget the Bucues! You don't have to fear them!_ Daniel kept repeating the mantra in his head, while he waited for Mu to launch. The Pulverizer was standing next to the airlock, ready to proceed as soon as the catapult was clear. Meanwhile Kira's Mobile Suit was being equipped in the Archangel's second catapult. Daniel kept drawing quick, short breaths, feeling the familiar flow of adrenaline in his system. He flexed his shoulders as much as the harness would allow him in a fruitless way to calm down.

There was a reason, other than the inevitable combat, for him to be feeling nervous. This would be the first time he went to battle ever since that terrible night. Though he knew that this battle would be at least just as difficult, his mind was mostly focused on the Pulverizer's generator.

After working on it for several days, and performing countless tests, Daniel had figured out a way around the problem. While he couldn't find and fix the source of the problem, due to his lack of knowledge about fusion reactors and unwillingness to risk messing up something so important, he realized it was possible to try and combat the effects of the problem.

He knew that the problem were the unpredictable power spikes. While lasting not longer than a second, they also caused a lot of heat during that short moment. The problem was that once heat reached a certain level, automatic safety systems went off and turned off all higher systems, weapons and boosters among them. The energy was then directed towards cooling the generator. Once the generator was cool enough, the energy would once again be provided for all systems. Typically this didn't last long, since the generator hadn't been worked up to that temperature by continuous use and the rest of the machine was cold enough to quickly dispel the heat.

Realizing that turning off these safety systems would be an epitome of stupidity, Daniel took another approach. He studied the spikes for long periods of time and had eventually calculated the highest possible temperature output the generator would produce when the power spike took place. Then, it was a simple matter of reducing the output of the generator, so that the strongest spikes would hit below the safety limits. Even though it meant that he had to reduce the output by nearly 40 percent, there was still enough power for him to participate in combat. Though he did realize that he would have to keep an eye on the triggers. Spray and pray was completely out of the question. He had to make his shots count. This was only a short term solution, but for now it was the best he could do.

He heard the sound of Mu's Skygrasper being launched into battle and gulped. The catapult was now empty and it was his turn next. The airlock in front of him opened, allowing the Pulverizer entrance into the catapult itself. As the machine stepped inside, Daniel suddenly found his worries gone. There was no turning back. The waiting was over. All he had to do was to go outside and do the best he could in order to come back alive. _How hard can this be? There are so many people backing me up that there is no way I can lose. _One last thought surfaced before he was thrown into battle.

Daniel managed only a quick look around before lock-on alarms went off, telling him that someone had pointed something undoubtedly nasty at him. Most likely it was one of the gunships filling the skies above them. He instantly faced the Pulverizer at the largest group of the gunships, assuming that the attack would probably come from them. He was right; one of the gunships launched a pair of missiles at him. Few more gunships painted the Pulverizer and fired their missiles as well. Fortunately for Daniel, the Pulverizer's defensive system worked flawlessly. As soon as the missiles came within fifty meters of the machine, they were detected and destroyed by thin, highly concentrated laser pulses lancing out of the Pulverizer's chest.

Daniel retaliated by snapping off a pair of bolts in the general direction of the enemy. He didn't hit a single one, but the formation did scatter wide enough for one of them to stumble into the Archangel's defensive network, where it was blown out of the skies by a short burst from the CIWS emplacements. Two more went up in flames when Mu made a daring pass through the formation, with machine guns and machine cannons blazing.

Three more were shot down when the Strike and members of Desert Dawn poured firepower into them. The Agile gunships exploded like fireworks, sending small, smoking pieces of hull in every direction, while larger parts plummeted to the ground. In one case the pilot managed to eject from his aircraft, specially designed explosive charges blowing off the rotor blades and preventing them from turning into a guillotine. Daniel didn't see what happened to the pilot, because a new threat emerged.

A group of Bucues, arriving only a few moments after the gunships, announced their participation in the battle with missile salvos and railgun volleys. Throwing the Pulverizer awkwardly to the side, Daniel managed to avoid getting hit by the railgun slugs. A few beams took out portion of the incoming missiles, the resulting explosion taking the remaining ones with them.

Kira didn't even pause to consider the new threat. Jumping out of the harm's way, with much more grace and skill than Daniel did, he charged the Bucues, ready to meet them before they could cause greater damage than they had. Already two tanks and one jeep were destroyed. Black pillars of smoke rising from their remains. Kira took out the nearest Bucue, by hitting its front legs with a blast from the beam rifle. It wasn't exactly what he had intended, but Kira didn't have the time to aim properly.

The Bucue crashed on the ground, flipping over as its front was buried in sand, and ground to a halt several meters further. Before the pilot could even come to her senses, the Mobile Suit came under intense fire from rocket launchers, autocannons and tank guns. The resulting explosion gave the ground forces a little payback.

Meanwhile Kira was already among the rest of the Bucues, firing the beam rifle, dodging shots and trying his best to either destroy or herd the Bucues closer to the Archangel, where they could be taken out either by the Pulverizer or the warship's missiles and any other they weapon, not involved in the exchange of fire with ZAFT's land battleships further away.

One Bucue was heading straight at him. Both beam sabers ignited and the missile pack spewing out missiles, trying to pin him down. Kira either blew them apart with the CIWS or simply dodged them and, when the Bucue was close enough, leapt at it. A swift kick from the Strike tore off the Bucue's head, while a precise shot took care of the pilot.

Once he was back on the ground, Kira looked around, using the moment while ZAFT pilots prepared for another attack, to survey the battlefield. In just few minutes they had managed to severely thin out the gunships in the skies and claim three out of six Bucues. The third kill resulting from an unexpectedly precise shot from Daniel. Apparently he had managed to remain calm enough to take aim, even though the Bucue had been saturating his position with its railguns.

The Archangel was busy dueling with the two land battleships, attempting to use the Gotfrieds to take out the enemy, while maneuvering as best as it could, to avoid getting hit in return. Just as the Bucues were about to try attacking him again, Kira spotted several more Mobile Suits, heading towards them. Unlike Bucues, they were bigger, slower and sported much heavier weaponry. However, Kira wasn't concerned about them. They had anticipated the use of assault Mobile Suits and had planned accordingly. Kira's and Daniel's role was to keep the Bucues busy and focused on them. Zuoots were reserved for someone else.

xxxxx

"Commander! What is the meaning of this!? Why are we stationed on top of the Lesseps?" Yzak's voice interrupted Waltfield's musings. He had been using one of the screens to observe the battle and had been truly impressed by the performance of the Archangel's and Desert Dawn's combined forces. They had been able to wipe out his gunship forces and were seriously threatening the existence of his Bucue assault squad. Another squad of Zuoots was on the way to bolster their numbers and put additional pressure on both Mobile Suits, however Waltfield didn't hold much hope in that regard. If the enemy could deal with Bucues, they would surely beat Zuoots as well. Assuming the assault units made that far. The lack of several tanks had told him enough, to expect a detached force out there, waiting to ambush unwary ZAFT machines. That's why he had decided to pull off a little trick of his own, in addition of going out himself to solve the problem personally.

Waltfield turned away from the monitor and regarded the three pilots walking briskly towards him and Aisha. On a closer look, only Yzak's pace spoke of indignation. Dearka and Juliet followed at a slightly more sedate pace. "What's this about?" Waltfield arched his eyebrows. "Are you allowed to complain about orders under Le Creuset's command?"

"Sir, you have to let us participate. We have more experience with that ship and Mobile Suits."

"Muscle Tracer." Juliet quietly pointed out the Pulverizer's identification from behind, but Yzak didn't hear her.

"Did you mean loser's experience?" Aisha quipped with a smirk. Yzak glared at her.

"What did you say!?"

Waltfield chuckled at the Aisha's dig, but quickly collected himself. "Your units are too heavily armed for our kind of battle, you can't keep up with the speed at which Bucues fight."

"Uhh, pardon me." Juliet raised her hand from behind Yzak and Dearka. Everyone turned to look at her. "No offense, sir, but if any of your Bucues could keep up with me, it would be a miracle."

"Oh? Are you sure about that? I doubt you have seen them at work. Maybe you'll be the one who can't keep up." Waltfield said. Juliet met his gaze challengingly and he couldn't hold back another smile. "Very well, if you're so certain about your machine I guess I shouldn't hold you back. We'll see who is the fastest."

"What!? You're letting her go out, but leaving us behind with nothing to do?" Yzak snapped his head towards Waltfield. He was about to say more when Dearka clapped him on the shoulder.

"Calm down, the Commander is right. Orders are orders." He led his friend away, before Yzak's temper could cause more problems. Once they were out of earshot, he added in a more conspiratorial tone. "Besides, the battle will definitely get out of control sooner or later. We'll have lots of chances to step in."

"Planning to disregard your orders?" Juliet's voice said from nearby. They both looked and were shocked to realize that the girl had followed them. It was obvious as to why. The Romeo was positioned next to the Duel and Buster.

Dearka regarded her carefully. Although she didn't look like it, there was a chance that Juliet could rat them out and ruin their little plan. "Maybe. What of it?"

Juliet smirked and shook her head reassuringly. "Don't worry … Dearka. I don't care what you two have in mind and I certainly won't tell on you. Now, if you'll excuse me I got work to do." The girl brushed past them and walked down the hallway which would lead her to the top of the Lesseps.

xxxxx

"Good, looks like everything's going according to plan." A wolfish grin featured on Maria's lips, as she looked at the battle trough the Warchief's powerful optics. The big tank, along with its smaller partners slowly stalked their way through the desert. The heavy combat vehicles were covered with camouflage netting, hiding them from any distant observers and the slow speed at which they were moving kept the dust trails down to a minimum. As far as hiding tanks went, they were pretty much invisible.

After some serious planning it was decided that part of Maria's forces would move as a separate unit, keeping out of view as much as possible, while the Archangel drew the main attention. The reason why they were doing it was because the only way tanks had any chance against Mobile Suits, was if they engaged them from a distance. The mobility of ZAFT machines made them almost impossible to hit at short range. Thus the reason for Maria's unit to be far away from the main battle.

She adjusted the view and did a quick count of the enemy forces, as the cameras scanned the area between the Archangel and the Lesseps and Petrie classes. "Two, three … look at what we have here." Her eyes lit up with excitement, as she spotted the only Mobile Suit model harboring contempt rather than fear and hate from the Earth Alliance tank crews. "I spy with my little eye nine butt-ugly Zuoots in the desert." The chorus of laughs and various comments from the rest of the crew matched her opinion about the assault role Mobile Suit.

While being a relatively decent Mobile Suit when standing on its legs. The Zuoot, in their opinion, was a horrible mistake when it was in the tank mode. Even if it did provide a more stable firing platform and possessed speed similar to an EA tank, it did little to cover up for its faults. The problem was that while it was fast, it wasn't nearly fast enough to avoid getting shot by tanks, which had long been used for destroying targets moving just as fast. The high profile and lack of sufficiently heavy armor was just icing on cake. Those things practically begged to be shot at, and Maria was happy to oblige and put them out of their misery.

She did a quick check of her battle group and cracked her neck. "Okay boys. Forget sniping the Bucues. The Archangel's Mobile Suits seem to have them under control. We've got something else to play with. Martin, take us to that dune, hull-down position, don't bother going slowly anymore. Felix, as soon as we're in position, ready the cannons, pinpoint accuracy. Robert, I want everyone to take positions on that dune as well. Ten meter spread!" Maria barked orders and gritted her teeth in preparation. She didn't have to wait long. Like a beast waking from slumber the massive engine roared in its thunderous voice and the Warchief surged ahead.

"We're in position, Maria." Martin, the tank's driver reported a few moments later, keeping in mind to avoid the type of allocution Maria disliked. The Warchief had nestled almost on top of the dune. The hull was hidden behind the dune's crest, revealing only the turret with the fearsome twin 155mm linear cannons.

Felix, lased the furthest Zuoot, his experience telling him that others would be targeting the nearest. No point in firing every gun at a single target. "I have a target, ready to fire, ma'am." Felix reported and chuckled shortly, even after Maria's heel came down on top of his helmet none too lightly. He was the only person who dared to tease her like that. "Order understood. I won't miss."

On either side of them, the remaining tanks too their positions and picked their targets. As ordered, the tank Commanders reported to Maria when they were ready to fire. "Excellent." Maria grinned. "Everyone, open fire! Fire at will!"

The dune trembled when seventeen cannons, both conventional and linear types, spoke in unison, making the dune similar to an 18th century warship unleashing its broadside. The rounds smashed into the Zuoot formation, tearing apart threads, blowing off parts, punching trough or ricocheting off armor, raising tall pillars of sand and sowing shock and agony among the pilots. One moment they were heading towards the Archangel to help destroy it with their heavy weapons, the other they came under sudden and murderous attack.

Four Zuoots were destroyed instantly. Two more had their threads disabled and were forced to transform to Mobile Suit mode, while the remaining ones suffered only light damage or a serious scare. The shock lasted barely longer than a few seconds. After which they turned their attention on the hostile dune and let loose with their weapons, hosing the tank positions with all the firepower at their disposal. The return fire claimed almost a half of Maria's tanks. The heavy dual cannons on Zuoots' shoulders destroyed them with ease. Their hand held weapons were a different matter. Their small caliber meant that the rounds either bounced off or exploded harmlessly against the thick armor which was built to take frontal hits from much heavier weapons.

The surviving tanks fired again, taking out both Zuoots in the Mobile Suit mode and one of the ones in tank mode. The smoke and dust, created by firing and missed shots, prevented both sides from achieving better results. The two remaining Zuoots tried to pull back. Their resolve shattered by the unexpected ambush and casualties caused by an enemy they regarded as inferior.

As soon as the Zuoots started their retreat, Maria ordered her tanks to split into two groups and go around the dust and smoke cloud, signaling the demise of seven Mobile Suits. With both sides unable to see each other, the Mobile Suits managed to get quite a distance away, before they came under fire from one of the two tank groups.

Another tank was blown up when a Zuoot scored a direct hit to the side of the turret, ripping it off and throwing it more than ten meters from the main body. The destroyed tank was instantly avenged by the Warchief's heavy cannons, which played a similar trick to the Mobile Suit. The thread section jumped, raised its left side and then fell back to the ground, as the Mobile Suit's body was blown off when a pair of hypervelocity slugs was flattened against the armor, transferring enormous amounts of kinetic energy into the target.

"Okay, hold on for now." Maria said when the last Mobile Suit went up in flames. She checked the surrounding area and found it free of hostiles. "Looks like that's all of them. Good job people!" Her voice tightened somewhat when she saw the burning remains of her tanks. Nine tanks, along with their crews were destroyed in this little engagement.

These nine tanks, along with the increasing casualties among the forces near the Archangel, meant that her force was almost completely destroyed. She pursed her lips and rubbed her eyes. "Damn, no matter how much I see this, it's never easy." Maria turned her eyes away from the unpleasant sight and forced herself to focus. "All right, people, form on me and move out. Those Bucues near the Archangel are all alone now and are a perfect target for us. Once we smash them between our forces we'll be able to put pressure on the land battleships. C'mon, we're ending this today!" The Warchief trembled and started moving forward. They made only a few meters when the sensors picked up new contacts. The system identified them at the same time Maria received a message from one of the tanks.

"Mobile Suits incoming! Th… Three of them! Two Bucues and … It's the Tiger! The Tiger is on the battlefield!" Maria felt her heart stop for a moment when she heard the words. The data on the monitor served as further explanation for the empty feeling in her stomach. A trio of Mobile Suits swerved around a dune, a little further than three hundred meters ago and shot straight towards them. Two of them were the Bucues, their dual railguns on their backs swiveling around in search for prey. The one in front, sporting orange and yellow colors, was a Mobile Suit which made every heart clinch in fear, the Lagowe.

"This is Commander Andrew Waltfield, to the group of Earth Alliance tanks in front of me." A voice crackled trough the radio, broadcast on general frequency. "I spared you after the Suez Battle and was willing to let you go today as well. But after you destroyed my Mobile Suits, letting you go would dishonor the lives of my pilots you took, therefore you will die here."

"G-get help." Maria's words came out weak and frightened. The thought of facing the Desert Tiger without any preparation, with just eight tanks was … She clenched her hands, trying to prevent them from shaking.

"What? I didn't hear you!"

"Get…" Maria was about to repeat her order when a sudden wave of grim determination and acceptance washed over her. The Archangel and its forces were too far to help. They would never arrive in time. Maria checked the status of every tank she had under her command and made a decision. There was only one choice left "Get ready! We're going up against the Desert Tiger! Today we'll finish the Suez Battle!"

xxxxx

Once Kisaka was certain they were in a relatively calm area of the battle, he pulled over and turned his head towards where he thought he had seen something. The abandoned husks of the refinery complex and the Archangel's massive bulk made it harder to look for it, but he persevered. If it was what he thought it was, he would spot it easily enough.

Next to him, Cagalli gave him a bit confused look and then stood up in her seat to look over the large man. "What's wrong? Why did you stop?" She tried to see what had caused her bodyguard to abandon the battle. Other than a bunch of half-collapsed buildings there was nothing to see.

Kisaka reached for the binoculars and took another look. "I saw movement behind the Archangel. Somewhere between those buildings. Could be a detached force or something else." He replied curtly and continued his search.

Meanwhile Cagalli, knowing that Kisaka would move only when he was absolutely clear about the cause of the distraction, took a chance to check how the battle was progressing. For now everything looked on the up side. The gunships had been destroyed by Mu's Skygrasper. The pilot was currently heading towards the Lesseps class to put more pressure on it.

The Strike and The Pulverizer were also just about done with the last Bucue. Even though it took some time for Kira to decrease their numbers from three to one, during which, Cagalli had witnessed a lot of their ground forces being destroyed, eventually they had managed to force the lone Mobile Suit out in the open, where the two Archangel's pilots and remaining Desert Dawn's vehicles were pouring firepower at it from ever increasing amount of directions.

Maria's forces were nowhere to be seen. Though, Cagalli could hear echoes of another battle raging somewhere. The fact that the Zuoots, spotted earlier, hadn't arrived meant that Maria was definitely doing her part in wiping out ZAFT forces. The last report she'd heard was that Maria had successfully attacked the reinforcements. Knowing Maria and her experience Cagalli was certain that the Mobile Suits were probably burning already. But this didn't answer the main question. Where was Maria? The plan had been to engage the remaining Bucues after the Zuoots had been destroyed. _She probably hasn't destroyed them, then. _Cagalli decided, the possibility of an unfortunate outcome didn't even enter her mind. Not now when everything was looking so good.

The Archangel slightly better. Even though it hadn't destroyed or even damaged any of its opponents, the two land battleships were still moving and firing, it had managed to avoid being hit as well. Which, in a lot of ways was a very good thing. Considering the size of the guns the warships were sporting, even a single hit could cause a lot of problems. This thought did not concern Cagalli, however. She felt very confident in the Archangel crew's abilities to stay out of trouble.

Then everything went wrong. "Oh, no. Damn it!" Cagalli heard Kisaka take a sharp breath.

"What!? What's wrong!?" Cagalli snapped her head in the direction Kisaka was looking. Kisaka was spared from explaining, since the cause of his trepidation answered itself. A missile salvo erupted from a massive shape behind the Archangel, accompanied by a volley from its guns. Guns of a second Petrie class land battleship. The cannon rounds, together with missiles, slammed into the Archangel's back.

The ship wasn't destroyed. In fact, beyond surprising and rattling the crew, there was very little damage done. The ship's armor was strong enough to take those hits without failing. At least for now. However, the impact did have some further consequences. The force of the combined explosions was more than enough to make the Archangel crash. Its port side digging into sand, grinding the ship to a halt.

Cagalli needed only a second to realize what was going on. The Tiger had outmaneuvered them and had trapped them in a pincer maneuver. The abandoned refinery complex provided enough of a visual cover to hide the land battleship, as it made its way behind the Archangel. With the ship momentarily disabled, it would take only a moment for ZAFT forces to line up a killing blow.

Cagalli chewed her lip in frustration. She had to do something. Taking on a land battleship in a jeep was impossible. She needed more firepower and speed. Something to make it quickly to the target and maybe even destroy it. Her mind drifted back to the simulation runs she made a few days ago. That would work. There weren't airborne Mobile Suits around to trouble her and something like the ZAFT vessel was an excellent target. She needed an airplane. The second Skygrasper was still inside the Archangel. And with the ship currently grounded, she had an excellent opportunity to get to it. With her mind set, Cagalli jumped out of the jeep and before Kisaka could attempt to stop her, she was sprinting at full speed towards the Archangel.

xxxxx

"Okay. What now?" The Pulverizer looked around, checking the area for safety. "We got the last Bucue and it looks like they have no more Mobile Suits left. So what do we do now? Do we take on those monsters?" Kira knew full well what Daniel was talking about, but he couldn't make the decision as well. While he knew that he could take care of any hostile Mobile Suits, he wasn't sure about his abilities to take on a land battleship.

"I don't know, but we have to think of something. The Archangel won't be able to hold out against all three of those things." Kira replied, slightly frustrated by the fact that Daniel wanted him to make the decision. "Anyway, I think we should…" He stopped when he saw a white glint in the corner of his eye. At first he dismissed it as an optical illusion, but he was forced to change his mind quickly, when a series of explosions walked across the largest group of Desert Dawn vehicles, blowing them apart in pieces of metal and humanity. The rest of them scattered to the four winds.

"What the hell was that!? Where…" Daniel's frightened scream was brought to an end when a new machine used a nearby dune as a ramp to perform a long leap. The white machine crossed the air above them and landed on one knee with its back against them, fifty meters away. "What is that thing? … AC Romeo? What kind of a name is that?" Kira heard Daniel read the report from the displays.

"One, two, three and there you are." A girl's voice said from the AC's speakers, as she brought the Romeo up and faced the two Earth Alliance machines. "My, my such big boys you two are. I hope you'll go easy on me." The Romeo brought up a pair of guns. With more than slight anxiety, Kira noted that the Romeo had more guns than the Strike and the Pulverizer combined.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" Daniel demanded and stood next to the Strike, in attempt to intimidate the potential attacker. Even though Kira wanted to ask the same questions he didn't say anything since Daniel had already asked them. Instead he checked the status of the Strike and held his finger on the trigger. There was no way this pilot was friendly.

"Forceful, I like that." The girl chuckled. "I am Juliet Thule, a very nice girl and a Raven. As for what I want. Well, some people would love to see your Pulverizer destroyed. And regarding my experience with them I'm probably among those people as well."

Inside the Pulverizer, Daniel's face went pale. He remembered what that AC had done to the fleet, and it looked like someone had sent one after him. He drew a couple of breaths to calm down. Kira was on his side after all, and it was two against one. Common sense dictated that they were already victorious. There was no way one pilot; a girl nonetheless, could win against them.

"Perhaps we can do it the nice and easy way." Juliet continued cheerfully, like a girl asking her boyfriend to do her a little favor. "Maybe you can activate the self destruct function and save me the effort. I'll even let you leave the Pulverizer. No one asked me to kill the pilot."

"No. It ain't gonna happen!" Daniel's reply was short and simple, just like Kira had expected. There was no way his friend was going to give up the machine his parents died for. His answer also meant that there was no other way, but to fight. With a short sigh, Kira lifted the Strike's rifle and pressed down the trigger.

Juliet's reaction to the denial was even quicker. Daniel had just about closed his mouth and Kira was still in the process of pressing the trigger, when she made her move. A red laser beam scorched a deep scar across the Pulverizer's core. Tiny streams of molten metal evaporated in the air, while white hot edges rimmed the fresh mark. At the same time The Strike staggered backwards when a pair of 88mm rounds slammed into its body.

Kira recovered from the attack and opened up with the beam rifle, trailing the AC, as it skid across the ground. Next to him, the Pulverizer also added its plasma cannons to the mix, but none of them could land a single hit. The AC was just too fast and nimble to get a proper lock on. "Be careful. Don't let her… Watch out!" Kira warned his friend and they both went to different side, when the missile launcher behind the Romeo's shoulder spew out a stream of missiles, raking the ground between them in series of devastating blasts. Unlike ordinary missile launchers, this one sported only three tubes. However, it compensated it by a very high rate of fire. Pretty much like a machine gun that fired missiles instead of bullets.

With series of bright flashes the Pulverizer's systems took out part of the missiles. A panicked jump and a lucky shot from the plasma cannons took out the rest. Landing rather heavily on the side and rattling the majority of the bones in his body, Daniel realized that performing chaotic and impulsive movements wasn't probably the best decision. Sure, he had escaped destruction for now. But it had resulting in the Pulverizer lying helplessly on its right side, vulnerable to all sorts of nasty moves the girl would come up with.

As if summoned by his thoughts, the Romeo emerged from the smoke curtain, separating him from Kira, stopped in front of him. Daniel reached for the plasma cannon controls, but the AC kicked him in the core at the same time he pressed down the triggers. Four azure bolts sailed off into the skies, as the Pulverizer landed on its back. Once again that cheerful voice filled his ears.

"Pathetic. Are you even trying? I mean I expected more from you when you told me to piss off. I thought you actually had some skill, but it looks like…" The chuckle died off in the buzzing sounds of a beam rifle being fired several times.

Emerald darts filled the air above the Pulverizer as the Strike moved through the smoke, firing in the direction of the voice, to force the AC away. Dropping on one knee, the Romeo spun around and returned fire with the 88mm rifle. However, this time Kira was prepared for the attack and countered the blows trough sheer momentum. Just like the AC had done moments ago the Strike Gundam's form erupted from the cloud and made a swipe with its shield, taking several more hits in the process.

The blow caught the Romeo in the shoulder and would have sent it sprawling on the ground if not for Juliet's skill. She quickly turned the stumble into a slide and put some distance between them, dodging the beams as Kira tried to capitalize on his chance. She fired off another salvo of the missiles, but this time it proved to be a mistake.

Several quick bursts from the Strike's CIWS shredded the missiles, causing series of explosions in the Romeo's face. Superheated fragments with razor sharp edges left numerous, tiny marks on the previously pristine surface. The damage to the AC was purely cosmetic, but damage to Juliet's pride was much more severe.

"You shouldn't have done that!" She said in a low and dangerous voice. "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE FUCKING DONE THAT!" Thoughts about the mission and the priorities regarding it were overwhelmed by the realization that this Gundam, this clunky and ungainly machine had landed a blow. Someone had caught her. The realization grated against her pride like shards of a broken bone. The only way for her to restore her pride was to tear this machine apart.

Kira thought he was ready, he really did. He had the shield up and ready in front of him, the beam rifle leveled and aimed at the AC, and his eyes searching for any signs of what was about to come. He knew it clearly that the little mishap with the missiles had bruised the Raven's pride and that the Strike, not the Pulverizer, was currently on top of the hit list. However, when the Romeo aimed the laser carbine at him, Kira found out what it meant to face a laser type energy weapon.

There was a flash. A brief spike on thermals before the weapon fired few fractions of a second later. The next thing he knew, the right wing of the Aile Striker pack fell to the ground, sliced cleanly off by the intense beam. Before he could sort out his mind, the weapon fired again and this time an ugly scar burned its way across the right shoulder, stopping just barely before it could reach the joint.

By this moment Kira was already firing. The beams shot through the desert, but the Romeo had already moved out of the way. Kira tried to keep up the pressure, but this Juliet was actually a pretty good pilot. She ducked under some beams, skidded out of the way of others and even jumped over those, aimed at the Romeo's legs. And she was doing it while firing back at the same time.

Acting more on instinct than conscious action, he interposed the shield between him and the AC and smiled when the laser beam landed on the shield's surface. He snapped off a few more shots, missing by much narrower margin this time and hid behind the shield again. Another flash told him that the Romeo was firing at him. However, this time, the flash was brighter, as if there was more than one laser weapon being fired at him.

"Kira, get away from there!" Daniel cried over the radio and ran towards him to provide assistance. "She's taking out your…" The voice cut off when several shots slammed into the Pulverizer's chest, knocking the machine on the ground again and scattering pieces of armor nearby.

The Romeo lowered the carbine and sidestepped another attempt from the Strike to change the flow of battle. "Know your place!" Juliet warned the Pulverizer's pilot and fired the heavier dual laser cannon at the Strike's shield. The guy thought he was safe behind it. What he didn't know was that his shield was only a little more than a piece of molten slag. Lasers didn't have much in the way of pure destruction capabilities, but their penetrating power was simply obscene. Like a hot knife through butter. Few more shots and the shield would be gone and the Strike with it.

Warned by Daniel's words and fed up with being forced on the defensive, Kira decided to take the battle to the Romeo. Focusing his anger and the need to protect, he used these emotions to descend down an increasingly familiar path. One which led to banishment of all boundaries and limits usually engulfing his mind. The purple jewel fell through the darkness, only to burst into a supernova a moment later. Kira peeked around the shield and in that brief moment he saw enough to come up with a plan.

Juliet was about to fire again, probably for the last time, when the previously stationary Gundam seemed to burst in flame and smoke. It took her only a moment to realize that the Strike was charging at her, its thrusters flaring for all they were worth. At first, she tried to back off, but even the Romeo's boosters couldn't move the AC backwards just as fast as the Strike was moving forward. Seeing that close combat was inevitable, Juliet tried to increase her chances by firing at the shield again. Unfortunately, Kira was moving on a level slightly above her current state.

Throwing the shield like a frisbee, Kira managed to avoid getting shot, by knocking out the laser carbine from the Romeo's hand. He then whipped out a beam saber and made a quick slash at the Romeo's head. However, the AC dropped on its knees and, with the muzzle practically pressed against the Strike's body, forced the Gundam away.

This came with a cost however; once there was enough distance between them Kira fired the beam rifle and managed to land a few shots. The emerald beams did leave their marks on the AC's armor, but the damage was far too less than he had expected. The Romeo was still operational and retaliated with fury. A long and narrow blade lit up from the Romeo's left forearm and instantly sliced through the air just like the Strike's beam saber earlier. Kira positioned the beam saber in order to block it, but that's when something strange happened.

The pink beam saber clearly met the yellow laser blade. However, it didn't block it. With a bright flash, the yellow blade sunk into the beam saber and flowed right through the magnetic containment field and the plasma inside, emerging on the other side just as pristine and whole as before. Kira had been so certain about the saber's ability to block the blade, so sure in its performance that even his the Seed rage didn't save him from losing the beam rifle. With more than half of it gone, he dropped it, before the volatile contents could explode in the Strike's hand.

"That's right, you bastard, you can't block it." Juliet wasn't surprised even the slightest about the event. She made a few more attacks, carving new scars in the Strike's armor, as it tried to evade the unstoppable blows. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'll think of something. Don't worry." A strangely calm voice answered her. The CIWS on either side of the Strike's head flickered and showered the Romeo with dozens of low velocity rounds. The attack, mostly aimed at the AC's head prevented Juliet from seeing the follow-up attack. Her only warning was the alarms blaring to life when her opponent jammed the beam saber into and through the Romeo's right shoulder, destroying the dual laser cannon behind it. Juliet reacted by firing the carbine and blowing the Strike on the ground, but not before another mark came into existence across the Romeo's core due to the second beam saber.

Seriously pissed off and humiliated, Juliet completely lost her temper and showered the disoriented Gundam with continuous rounds from the carbine. Even if they couldn't penetrate the PS armor, they did rattle the pilot quite a bit and, unknown to her, each shot deflected, took one more bite out of the battery's energy level.

Juliet was so engrossed in punishing the pilot that she nearly missed the second threat. The Pulverizer had once again neglected her warning and had managed to even sneak up on her. Juliet had only a second to move out of the two laser blades aimed at her left side and focus her attention on the new opponent.

Whoever this guy was he wasn't nearly as skilled as his comrade in the Strike, but he did make up the difference by sheer enthusiasm. The chaotic and wild sweeps and thrusts with the laser blades were enough to prevent Juliet from taking any offensive action. All her attention was focused on avoiding the unblockable attacks and waiting for an opening.

The opening came when the Pulverizer made a simultaneous sweep with both of the laser blades and missed. Not giving the bastard enough time to recover, Juliet moved the Romeo forward. A precise thrust took out the right plasma cannon, while a solid knee to the midsection, aided by hit to the head with the carbine brought the Pulverizer down on its side. Wide open and defenseless it was at her complete mercy. Unfortunately, Juliet wasn't feeling merciful at all. "You should have remained in you place after all. Now I will show you why." She aimed the laser blade at the Pulverizer's chest, right where the cockpit was.

She had no idea which time it was that day, but once again an outside factor ruined her chance. The intervention took the form of four missiles, streaking down from the skies and heading right at the Romeo. Juliet barely managed to get away from the sudden attack by jumping over the Pulverizer and using the boosters to get to safety. Strangely, but the missiles didn't explode. They just slammed into the ground and remained there as twisted and broken remains.

"What the hell?" Juliet frowned and searched for the source of the unusual attack. Her sensors beeped and highlighted a new signal nearby. "AC Dingo?" Juliet read the report and turned to face the location where another AC was standing. "Dingo? What the hell are you doing here, Jack?" She stared at the ginger-yellow and white AC standing on top of a dune and observing the three machines.

"My job." The Dingo's pilot replied. "Get away from that Pulverizer, Juliet." Jack said his voice a bit edgy and tense. Five days. Five fucking days spent in the desert, searching for the Archangel and with nothing else to do had driven him to the point where he was about to start shooting at everything in sight. Firing the missiles without arming them was probably the biggest challenge he had faced. He wanted to vent his pent up frustration so much, he almost risked violating the mission and blowing up the Romeo along with the Pulverizer.

"Oh yeah? … Make me." The girl challenged, but an incoming message drew her attention. It was an order from the Lesseps. For a moment she considered ignoring it, but eventually her sense of duty reminded her, that she was currently a member of Le Creuset Team, and that meant taking orders from Commander Waltfield and his second in command.

Keeping the Dingo in her sights, Juliet checked the contents of the message. "Commander Waltfield has been KIA and two land battleships are heavily damaged." She read it out loud. "All ZAFT forces are ordered to retreat." Grudgingly, she moved away from the slowly recovering Pulverizer, pausing only to collect the laser carbine she's dropped earlier. _This is not over. This is so not over. _She promised herself and threw one last, hateful glare at the three machines.

xxxxx

While Juliet was having fun with the Strike and the Pulverizer, Yzak and Dearka were cursing the entire world at how unfair it was. Not only were they ordered to remain on the Lesseps and out of the action, but they also seemed to have serious problems hitting their target. The Archangel was right in front of them, trapped between the three land battleships. A perfect target for anyone with a decent aim. Unfortunately, it looked like their accuracy was shot. Big time. No matter how much firepower they poured at the damned ship, their shots always missed. It was as if the Archangel was protected by some kind of an invisible shield that diverted all their attacks.

Yzak took another aim and fired at the Gotfried cannons on top of the ship. The beam streaked towards the target, but eventually missed by a few meters. "What the fuck is wrong with it? Why can't I hit the damned ship!? It's a sitting target for crying out loud!" He swore and observed Dearka's attempts to destroy the ship. They failed, just like his.

"Something might be wrong with the computers." Dearka mused. Given his preference for ranged combat he knew a lot more about mechanics surrounding it, than his friend. "Either they're being jammed or it's caused by something else. Maybe it's because of the environment's heat or humidity or something else." While he was trying to figure out how to hit the Archangel, Dearka saw one of the ship's launch catapults open up and disgorge a second Skygrasper a moment later.

The said fighter plane soared in the sky and joined the first one, as they headed towards the lone Petrie class land battleship the Henry Carter. The few remaining gunships tried to intercept the two aircraft; however they were no match for the highly advanced planes. If there was one type of weapons where the Alliance held the upper hand, combat aircraft was one of them. ZAFT's counterparts were more suited for aiding Mobile Suits rather than independent action. As a result, the last few Agiles were blown out of the skies with near contemptuous ease.

"Fuck this! I've had enough!" Yzak growled and launched the Duel from the deck. It turned out that Yzak had been serious about disregarding Waltfield's orders. Dearka tried to call him back, but he didn't listen. The Gundam made a long jump and landed on the ground with a heavy thud. The recently added assault shroud armor set clanged, as the armor plates rattled against the main body. "I'll rip you to pieces." Yzak promised and started to move towards the Archangel. Or at least he attempted to. The Duel only managed to take a few steps before it was assailed by the same problem that had plagued the Strike some time ago.

The Duel's feet sunk into the sand, causing the Mobile Suit to stumble and nearly fall over. "What the hell?" Yzak struggled to keep his machine standing, but it was almost impossible. Every step he took made the Duel stagger even more. It was like walking on ice. Every time the Duel's foot came down, it slipped in a completely different direction. Eventually the Duel was brought down to the knees. To further add insult to his pride, several surviving jeeps started peppering the immobilized Duel with RPGs, circling the machine like a bunch of jackals surrounding their prey. The Phase Shift armor protected the Duel from harm, but if they kept it up, eventually the battery would be drained and then the Duel's pilot would die a ver embarrassing death.

Dearka watched his friend's misfortune and considered helping him, however the weapons Buster carried, weren't exactly precision instruments. There was a fair chance of hitting the Duel as well. And that was something Dearka didn't want to chance. Instead he decided to use said weapons to bring down the Archangel. He brought the weapons up and aimed them at the ship's center, instead of a separate part. It would take more than one hit to penetrate the armor, but this way it was impossible to miss.

The anticipation died, however, when he saw the Archangel finally lifting itself from the ground and, after taking a direct hit from the Lesseps cannons without heavy damage, turning around to face the Lesseps and the Buster on top of it. The two Gotfrieds rotated and set themselves on the land battleship. Dearka didn't need any more clues of what was about to happen. Taking a sharp breath he jumped off the Lesseps. No sense in standing on a ship that was about to be hit by guns of the Archangel's caliber. He made just in time.

Four, thick beam lanced out of the Gotfrieds and drilled their way into the Lesseps. Large sections of the vessel went up in flames, the main gun turrets were blown clean off and the main hangar was exposed to the world. The mighty ship slowly ground to a halt, spitting smoke and flames from its wounds. Few moments later, the Lesseps started moving again, but this time in the opposite direction. The Lesseps was retreating.

Just when Dearka finally managed to get the Buster on its feet, the communications display beeped. He received a message about the demise of Commander Waltfield.

xxxxx

"Pop smoke! Pop smoke! Reverse, full speed!" Maria's frantic voice filled the Warchief. Her voice quieted down for a moment when the tank stopped and started moving backwards causing her to hit her head against one of the displays. She adjusted the helmet and glanced at the screens. The image was rapidly filling with smoke, as the grenade launchers on the Warchief's hull launched several smoke rounds, providing an instant cover for the tank.

Two beams scorched the ground where the Warchief would have been, if not for the sudden change in direction. Through the smoke Maria saw a massive shape blitz past them. "Felix! Cut the recharge cycle by half! I want you to put as many rounds downrange as possible ... Don't worry about the range and velocity. The armor's not that tough. All we need is a single hit to put that bastard down long enough for us to finish him off."

"We lost Alpha Three!" The radio operator reported with more than slight panic in his voice. Even though he was supposed to be an experienced soldier, no one blamed him. Seeing their forces being slowly destroyed was enough to unsettle even the most hardened soldiers.

The loss of Alpha Three meant that they were down to three tanks. Five more wrecks littered the desert. Burning among them were the remains of two Bucues. Maria's forces hadn't been solely on the receiving side. However it was a small consolation. The Tiger was still alive and everyone knew that he was perfectly capable of taking out the three survivors.

With a mechanical whine the Warchief's turret turned to face the area where the recently destroyed tank was supposed to be. Once they emerged from the smoke, they saw the tank, but the Lagowe was already gone. Most likely it was using the dunes as cover while it circled around them and prepared for another attack run.

The other two tanks, Alpha Two and Alpha Six, according to the ID tags, were trying to head for the Warchief. A close formation, where each tank covered a certain sector, was much safer than being all alone in the open. The closest one was approximately seventy meters away, while the other one had a little over than a hundred meters to go.

"Head towards Alpha Six, he's the one in most danger." Maria ordered the driver, while trying to figure out where the enemy was. "Keep the guns on those dunes over there! There's a high chance that he's hiding behind them." She barely managed to finish her sentence when the Lagowe swerved around the dune she had indicated and went after the most vulnerable tank.

All three tanks opened up with their cannons, but none of the rounds struck. They all landed behind the orange Mobile Suit, dotting the desert with massive explosions. As the Lagowe approached them firing became even more difficult. The tanks couldn't rotate their turrets fast enough to track the target. This lead to Waltfield approaching his target without being fired at.

Alpha Six, a Cherokee class linear tank tried to escape, but it was too late. The Lagowe was too fast and too close. The beam sabers lit up and, with an almost graceful motion of the Mobile Suit's head, sunk into the tank's hull. The beam sliced cleanly trough the armor, cutting off the turret and turning the crew into ashes. The destroyed tank burned for a moment and then exploded when the linear capacitors cooked off.

"Fire, Felix, fire! Bring him down!" Maria edged her gunner through gritted teeth, ignoring the tears running down her cheeks. Another crew gone. It was like Suez all over again, her forces, her soldiers were dying around her, slaughtered by an enemy they couldn't even touch. Out of those who had survived that battle, only two tanks had remained. Her Warchief and the Pitbull nearby. The forces she'd sent to fight with the Archangel had been destroyed, leaving only Desert Dawn's jeeps to finish the fight.

Yellow tracers crackled through the air behind the Lagowe as Felix tried his best to score a hit. The hits missed, just like before. The Mobile Suit moved too fast. Alpha Two tried to do the same, but the results weren't any different. The Pitbull's gunner even opened up with the coaxial machine gun. Clearly they were just as close to breaking point as Maria felt about herself.

In response, the Lagowe fired its beam cannons, the Mobile Suit's gunner once again demonstrating her skill. The beams speared trough the bottom left side of the Pitbull, melting off its threads and fusing the wheels together effectively immobilizing the tank. A mobility kill. One more tank was about to become a casualty.

The Lagowe turned around in a wide turn and headed for the disabled tank in order to finish it off. The crew of the Warchief saw the Pitbull's turret rotate, trying to line up a shot, but even at this distance it was obvious that the attempt was futile. The crew's life could be measured in seconds. The beam sabers were already lit and once again, the only guns that could save the unfortunate tank, were trailing slightly behind the Lagowe. However, mere seconds before the Lagowe claimed another kill, the Pitbull's crew pulled off an unexpected maneuver.

The undamaged threads started moving again, the tank's engine putting every bit of its power to move the disabled tank. With threads on the left side completely disabled, the tank rotated sharply to the left. This, coupled with the already moving turret, was enough to place the gun's barrel in the Lagowe's path.

The Mobile Suit's legs crashed into the barrel at the same time the beam saber bit into the hull. The metallic tube bent, twisted and eventually gave way when the turret's supports were sliced off by the beam saber. While not much damage was done to the Lagowe, the improvised obstacle was enough to slow it down. Enough for the Warchief's guns to finally catch up with the elusive target.

Both guns fired at the same time, the crackling sound signaling the discharge of two hypervelocity slugs. The shots crossed the distance in an eye blink and one of them even struck the target. The slug flattened itself against the place where the left hind leg was attached to the body and transferred its energy into the target. The joint, unable to endure such force, shattered. The Lagowe itself was thrown to the side, tumbling violently for several meters, mangling the back mounted beam cannons in the process. Eventually the Mobile Suit stopped and remained lying on its side.

The crew of the Warchief stared at the wreckage they had turned the Lagowe into. Even though they all had hoped for it, none of them actually expected the shots to connect. After all, it was the Desert Tiger they were facing. Scoring such a lucky shot against an enemy like that was unbelievable. Yet there it was, the Lagowe was barely more than wreckage in the desert. They stared for what seemed like eternity and just as they were about to announce it to the Archangel, the Lagowe moved.

Slowly and carefully, the Mobile Suit struggled to get back on its remaining feet. Even though it had lost its main weapon, one leg and had suffered a large amount of internal damage, it wasn't destroyed. The relatively low velocity of the slugs had failed to reach the force necessary to either destroy the machine or kill the pilots trough kinetic trauma. Oh, Maria was certain they were experiencing one hell of concussions and were barely able to remain conscious or even control the Mobile Suit, much less fight a battle. For all intents and purposes, the fight was over, the Desert Tiger was defeated. Alive maybe, but certainly not a threat.

However, for Maria it wasn't enough. There was too much blood on the Tiger's hands to let him go. A silent clearing of the throat from Felix's position told her all she needed to know. With a trembling hand she reached for the radio and activated the loudspeakers. "Tiger! Remember Suez! … Remember the 26th! … FIRE!" The last part was meant for Felix, but she forgot to let go of the switch.

The Lagowe stopped its attempts to get up, the monoeye shifting to look directly at the Warchief. For a moment Maria thought that the Mobile Suit was looking directly at her. Perhaps it was the stress of the battle, but she felt that there was more than just a machine looking at her. The look it gave her wasn't filled with anger or hate, but rather … a plea for mercy. Maria shook her head. It was all in her head. She was imagining things. Mobile Suits didn't have emotions. They were just machines. Lifeless constructs. Weapons of war. Right?

The Warchief's guns spoke again. This time the sound was stronger. Louder. Felix had used the moment to increase the velocity of the weapons, ensuring a definite kill if the rounds connected. They did. One round perforated the area right behind the Lagowe's front legs, while the second one blew off the rear portion of the machine. Numerous chunks of the hull erupted into the air, like a surreal version of confetti. The larger pieces were thrown in separate directions, widening the Lagowe's grave and covering it with a thick cloud of smoke and dust.

Inside the Warchief, Maria took off her helmet and hid her face behind her hands. Her quiet sobs filled the tank's interior. She didn't care if her crew could hear her. It was over. After all those deaths, all those months, the Suez Battle for the 26th Atlantic Federation Expeditionary division was finally over.

* * *

**A/N **- It's been a while, I know. Lots to do on my part. Unfortunately I can't promise that the next chapter will be up sooner. I will try or course, but since I have to write a research work in order to get my bachelor's degree, my priorities aren't exactly focused on the story.

Anyway, I wanted to make this a two part chapter, but eventually I decided to go for broke and jam it in one chapter, so that I could finish on the same not the series did. Though with a twist.

Anyway, I know that the following is usually put near the end of the story, but I decided to do it now. The more time I have, the more deeper various things can be included in the storyline.

What I'm talking about is that I'm offering you all a chance to suggest characters you would like to see in the stories. There are two more stories following this one, so long term planning is needed. I do have characters of my own ready to play the needed roles, but I thought about giving you, ladies and gentlemen, a chance to influence the story. Anyway, if you have a badass pilot, a truly nefarious villain or any other kind of character in mind, feel free to either PM me or drop the information about him/her in a review.

Same thing goes for mechs, ideas or anything else you like or dislike. If you have come up with a AC that would show those primitive Mobile Suits who is the master, or a Gundam that would put the cocky ACs in their place, I'm open to suggestions.

However, bear in mind that if you offer me your characters or mechs, you're practically putting me in charge of their fates, there will be a lot of nasty stuff going on.

- Asmus


	22. Demons from the depths

A/N - Okay, before we begin. I want to reply to some of my readers. I understand your desires for Daniel to have the SEED ability. After all it's one of those things that separates some pilots from others and gives them the ability to change the course of the battle. And is generally a cool thing to have. However, I consider the SEED mode to be something undesirable for someone like Daniel, at least for now. Currently he's learning things the hard way. He'd on the bottom of the totem pole, completely outclassed by most of the enemies and usually relies on luck and help from others to survive. Note that he's usually going out with the thought to survive, not to kick all sorts of ass. Sure, he does make himself useful, but unlike Kira, Daniel's main concern is to remain intact until the fight is over.

Furthermore, the activation of SEED mode does require certain emotions. Usually righteous anger, or strong resolve. None of which have been represented in Daniel. His most distinctive emotion is panic or blind fear. None of which are the keys to unlocking the SEED.

Oh, and about Naturals getting shafted in terms of SEED modes and skills, don't think that Coordinators and Ravens are the biggest guys on the block. There are several seriously scary Naturals out there, you just haven't seen them yet.

* * *

Murrue crossed her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at the yellow and white machine in front of her. Next to her, eying the same AC with varying degrees of suspicion, Mu and Natarle did the same. In fact everyone, whether they were members of Desert dawn of crew of the Archangel were throwing various glances at the AC. Or rather the pilot descending from the cockpit in the AC's back.

They were back in the Desert Dawn's main compound, after careful consideration they had decided that retreating would be the best course of action, since there was no telling if or when ZAFT reinforcements would arrive. In their present state no one had much strength left for another fight. They'd been so quick to leave that they were unable to even confirm Andrew Waltfield's death, though Maria claimed that nothing could have survived direct hits from her Warchief. Therefore, it was eventually assumed that the Tiger was dead and the fight was over.

However, all cheers had quickly died down when the Strike and the Pulverizer had returned with a new AC accompanying them. For a moment they thought that it was a new enemy, but when the pilot had asked for Murrue, claiming that he could explain the situation, everyone calmed down. A little.

Eventually it had lead to the current situation. Murrue and most of the bridge crew were standing outside the Archangel, waiting for the pilot to disembark and provide his explanation. There was one thing she had to admit, the pilot, whoever the guy was, definitely had courage. He was in the middle of a potentially hostile camp, outnumbered and outgunned, especially since both Archangel's machines were standing nearby, ready to provide help in case things went wrong. The pilot reached the ground and made his way straight at Murrue, he didn't look left or right; he didn't look at any single one of the people on either side of him, but kept his head focused solely on Murrue.

Not wanting to let this person think he had the upper hand in the conversation, Murrue was the one to speak. "Judging from your actions, I assume your reason to be here is not a hostile one … Umm?" Murrue paused, fishing for his name.

"Jack Terossa." The pilot dropped the large duffel bag he was carrying in one hand and pulled off his helmet. "Nope, I ain't here to cause trouble for you. At least for now … I was hired to look after that Pulverizer over there and make sure it reaches Abraska or wherever you people are going."

"You were hired to help us reach Alaska? By whom? I had no idea Earth Alliance was hiring mercenaries." Natarle couldn't hold back her suspicions. This guy was obviously a Utopian, a mercenary from Circ-City, if the machine behind him was of any sign. Why would these people be interested in a single battleship, which meant absolutely nothing to them, was beyond her. She sensed another power behind the scenes. Maybe it had something to do with that Colonel?

"Ravens, not mercenaries." Jack corrected and started searching through the thigh pockets. "I don't know what this Earth Alliance you're talking about is, but I was hired by a guy named … uhh, I forgot his name. Anyway, he gave me these and said that they would explain everything." He finally pulled out several papers, which he handed over to Murrue.

She quickly ran over them, noting the various instructions and included notes. Mostly they looked like a letter directly to her, kind of instruction on how to deal with this Raven, standing in front of her. She put them aside for now and lastly found what she wanted. A set of orders, written by the authority of the Alliance's High Command. "The person holding these documents is to join the Archangel's crew and accompany it to JOSH-A." She read part of them out loud, so that Mu and Natarle would be informed about the nature of the documents.

"So when did they hire you?" Mu asked, while looking over Murrue's shoulder to get a better look at the documents.

"About a week ago." Jack shrugged. "I would have gotten here sooner, but I had to search the entire desert. There's some kind of interference here that's been messing with my long range sensors."

"That's probably because of Neutron jammers. The situation doesn't change no matter where you go. The whole Earth is full of them ... Anyway; it looks like the orders are indeed from the High Command so I guess you are clear to accompany us." Murrue finished reading the papers and passed them over to Natarle, and then she extended her hand with a smile. "I am Captain Murrue Ramius. Welcome aboard the Archangel. I am grateful for any help we can get."

"Well, Captain." Jack grinned again and shook her hand. "Here's to a mutually advantageous relationship."

xxxxx

"Some fucking specialist you are. Rushing in all alone and getting your ass kicked like that. Yeah, real high class!" Yzak's taunt sounded across the passenger section of the cargo plane they all shared on their trip back to Gibraltar.

Juliet glared back at him from where she was lying across all three seats across the aisle. "Oh? And I suppose getting yourself trapped in sand, just because you failed to realize that thing of yours is too damned heavy and almost getting shot by puny fucking jeeps, and being saved by said specialist ain't pathetic?" She sneered widely at Yzak's fuming face. "At least I did something; you were either spraying firepower all over the place or lumbering around like a drunk."

"What did you say?" Yzak slowly rose to his feet, his voice trembling from anger.

"You're deaf too? I said if you're a fucking disgrace, not a pilot." Juliet stuck out her tongue and flipped him off with a gloved finger. The lack of fear in her voice was the only reason why Yzak hadn't resorted to physical means of dealing with her. Usually when people saw him like this they ran and never looked back. Juliet, however, seemed to be completely unfazed. It boggled his mind. Sure, he wasn't a guy who would hit girls, but right now he wanted to slap that stupid grin off.

"Hey, hey. Stop it you two!" Dearka stood up and positioned himself between them. Usually he would simply try to dissuade his friend by grabbing his shoulder, but the situation seemed to be more dangerous. Not only Yzak had the look of a killer on his face, but Juliet's complete lack of fear was a bit unnerving, plus the light in her eyes didn't spoke of harmlessness either. Thus the reason for him to get between them. "I know we all got our asses handed to us, but that's no reason to start killing each other."

Both Yzak and Juliet seemed to calm down a little after he said those words. Truth be told, that was exactly the reason why they were arguing. No one liked to be on the losing side and people usually tried not to think about it. For Yzak and Juliet it seemed that their method to avoid thinking about it was to vent their frustration out on others. _Just great! I'm stuck with two people who'd rather bite each other's throats than try to calm down. It's like dealing with another Yzak. _Dearka shifted his eyes from one person to another, watching for any signs of potential physical conflict.

Juliet and Yzak glared at each other for a moment and eventually backed down. Yzak took his place by the window with an inaudible growl and focused his eyes on the clouds outside, whereas Juliet slipped back into a more relaxed position, crossing one leg over another and stared at the ceiling. Seeing the crisis averted for now, Dearka flopped down in his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The death of the Desert Tiger, and the following defeat was like a fresh wound for all of them. They had lost against all odds. Superior numbers, firepower they had had it all, yet the Archangel and the Desert Dawn had won. Whether it was due to overconfidence on ZAFT's part or sheer, dumb luck, it didn't matter. They had lost in the end.

The following hours after the fight had been chaotic. The mauled force under DaCosta's return had returned to Banadiya in order to regroup. There, the Waltfield's aide, had gathered what remaining forces they had and set out to retrieve Waltfield's body, along with the remains of other pilots. Honor and duty demanded it. Leaving their bodies out in the desert, or worse, in the hands of the Desert Dawn who might desecrate the Commander's body, was something DaCosta couldn't allow to happen. He had decided to return the body for a proper burial even if it meant going against the Archangel all by himself.

Yzak, Dearka and Juliet hadn't been included in the retrieval team. Upon their return to the city, orders had arrived that demanded their return to Gibraltar. Therefore, the two Gundams and the lightly damaged AC had been loaded into the transport planes and sent on their way back.

"What the hell are we going to do now?" Dearka muttered more to himself than his comrades. However, both of them had heard him and reacted.

"Simple. We return to Gibraltar and await further orders." Yzak opened his flight suit's jacked and fanned himself with the collar. They all were still clad in their flight suits, further indicating how much of a rush they were in. "They'll probably want to send a new force after the Archangel while it's still near the base." Dearka groaned in desperation.

"I hope not. I've had enough for some time. The Archangel nearly blew the Buster apart during the fight. Plus I don't think we'll be able to do much while fighting in the desert."

"What do you think we do then, huh? Sit back and let that ship escape? This is our chance to bring them down." Yzak argued. "I think it's best to return to base and send out a much larger force as soon as possible."

"I don't think it'll happen. Remember, Waltfield requisitioned most of the Bucues they had. Whatever little they have left on the base are mostly the older models and are being upgraded. Zuoots are out of the question. You saw how easily they were destroyed. And while GINNs could do something we can't leave the base without any forces. The Alliance is just itching for an opportunity to take the Gibraltar Base … No; I don't see us attacking the Archangel anytime soon." Dearka leaned back in his seat and let out a tired sigh. He was feeling like crap. Not just because of the gloomy thoughts, but due to lack of sleep as well. He hadn't gotten a decent sleep in three days. He considered taking a nap right then and there, but decided against it. The flight didn't take long enough for him to get a full sleep. Taking a quick nap in his current state would leave him feeling only worse. He would still have to pilot the Buster out of the plane, something he didn't dare trying to do while half his mind was asleep.

The small section fell silent for a moment, each pilot was thinking about their own problems. Dearka was about to fall asleep, despite his efforts to stay awake, when Juliet broke the silence. "Those people have a Raven now as well. It won't be easy to take them out."

"Doesn't matter. It's just one pilot we'll take out that guy as well." Dearka yawned, struggling to keep himself awake.

Juliet shot him a quick glare, but Dearka didn't notice it. "You know, a lot of Ravens are more dangerous than you think. I might be a rookie among them, but bear in mind that there are a couple of real killers among us. People who will rip you a new asshole with one hand tied behind their back. If you'll go against them with a mindset like…" Her warning trailed off when loud snores interrupted her. The girl raised her head and saw that both pilots were asleep. Dearka had finally succumbed to an overwhelming wave of sleepiness, whereas Yzak had drifted off without even realizing it.

Juliet stared at them for several seconds, gritting her teeth in frustration. She was trying to explain to these two brutes just how dangerous Ravens were, yet they not only ignored her words, but had fallen asleep! She considered getting up and waking them up with a punch to the face, but eventually decided against it. Let them find it out for themselves. She rested her head against the helmet again and stared at the ceiling again, while letting out a single word. "Assholes."

xxxxx

Mu carefully stood at the edge of the cliff, resting on the left side of the complex, where the Desert Dawn's complex was, and cast his gaze at the view surrounding him. All around him, even across the complex and the opposite ridge, there was nothing more than a desert in every direction, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Countless dunes, some of which were pockmarked by small bushes here and there, struggling to keep the faint life flowing inside them. Using the cold desert night to prepare for the murderous heat that would arrive with the morning sun. Somewhere in the distance he could hear a jackal howling, as it went through its usual business. Other noises, made by animals he couldn't discern, joined the lone howl, fusing together in a symphony that sounded across the desert.

This was truly a beautiful place. Even to someone like him who had spent his life in cities or in space. For someone like Sahib, the desert meant even more. It was home. No wonder Sahib was so determined to hold on to it. The promise to fight against anyone who would dare threaten their homes, their land, was enough to convince Mu that these people were fiercely dedicated to their task. Becoming their enemy was something few people lived long enough to regret.

Mu took a deep breath and stretched his back, enjoying the feeling of fresh air in his lungs. The same gulp of air also helped his head become clearer. The victory celebration had involved a noticeable amount of alcohol. Fortunately he had restrained himself from having more than one or two drinks. Getting drunk wasn't in his current plans. It was then, as he was about to take a short walk along the edge of the cliff, when he noticed that he wasn't alone. A faint metallic sound drew his attention.

Using a large rock as a seat, Maria was sitting near the edge some distance away. She sat there completely motionless and stared in the distance, completely oblivious to Mu's presence. Her head rested on one hand, while the other one held something Mu couldn't see. The metallic sound repeated itself, as she tightened her grip around the object she held. At the same time a deep sigh left her lips.

Intrigued why Maria wasn't at the camp, celebrating with her men, Mu slowly walked over to her, while trying to see what exactly she was holding. He made only a few steps when Maria noticed him. Turning her head, just enough to get a sideways glance at him, Maria returned back to watching the view.

Now that Maria was aware of his presence Mu saw no reason to remain silent. "Hey, I had no idea someone else was here." He stood next to her, hands in his pockets, and nodded towards the camp. "Why aren't you there, celebrating the victory? You are the one who killed the Tiger. Everyone would like to meet today's hero."

Maria remained silent for a very long time. She gave no signs that she had heard him and continued to stare in the distance, as if there was something only she could see. Obviously her mind was on other things. Something more important than the victory party or fame. Something unpleasant. When the silence grew uncomfortable, she finally opened her mouth. "One hundred and thirty eight ... One hundred and thirty eight men lost their lives fighting against the Tiger." She said quietly and shook the object in her hand. It was a small bag. Judging by the sound, the bag held a lot of metallic things.

"Oh … I see." Mu replied equally quietly. His thoughts returned to the small burial ceremony they held a few hours ago. The village elder from Tassil had organized it to honor those who had fallen during the battle. The graveyard was located on the eastern side of the camp. Positioned between the two ridges, it was positioned so that the graves were facing east and would be the first ones to greet the new dawn.

From his vantage point Mu could see the graves, each marked with a simple cross and what few mementos the close ones could spare. There were a lot of them, more than two hundred graves. Some of them belonged to the fallen Desert Dawn members. Others, arrayed in precise ranks, with dog tags from the crosses, glistening in the moonlight like an eerie field of wisps, marked the resting places of Maria's soldiers.

Ever since Maria had joined the Desert Dawn, the fallen soldiers had been buried alongside the freedom fighters. Even though they were from a foreign land, the Atlantic Federation soldiers were considered brothers, for they had fought for the same cause as Sahib's men. And, in a lot of ways, it was thanks to them and their tanks that the resistance had survived for so long. Dedication, no matter how strong or just, couldn't defeat a Mobile Suit.

"If you're thinking of a way to cheer me up, or relieve the grief, don't bother. There's none of those feelings inside me." Maria's voice broke into his thoughts and Mu realized that Maria was looking at him with serious eyes.

"You don't feel sorry for them? How can you say something like this? They were your soldiers!" Mu was shocked to hear something like that. The coldness in her eyes and utter lack of emotions in her voice was more to unsettle him. He hadn't known Maria for long, but she didn't seem like the cold type. In fact she was the complete opposite. Cheerful, always smiling or throwing out jokes or friendly insults, Maria was nothing like the person currently next to him.

Maria noticed the confusion in Mu's face and sighed. "You don't understand. I do feel sorry for losing those men, but I'm not going to grieve … They all knew what they were getting themselves into and, short of ordering them to stay back; there was nothing I could do to save them." She explained. "I serve in ground forces. The mortality rate among tank crews is much higher than among your kind. One destroyed Mobile Armor means one dead pilot. One destroyed tank means three or four dead crewmembers. It's a simple math. And when you've spent several months watching your comrades die at such rate, you become desensitized … You can grieve about the dead ones only so much."

"I see your point, but I think having the ability to feel grief is a good thing as well. The deaths of those around us should mean something, that's what makes us human. Losing something like that is one step on the road to losing your humanity and becoming an emotionless shell, a monster without a conscience. I'm not asking you to start crying your eyes out or becoming a sobbing emotional wreck. That's probably even worse. However, the fact that you dismiss the deaths of your soldiers with a mere nod isn't the best thing either." Mu argued, though he really had no idea why he was making such an effort of it. Small part of his mind wondered that it was because Maria had indirectly assumed that losing a Mobile Armor pilot wasn't such a big thing. Maybe it wasn't for her, but for Mu it was different. Memories of the Battle of Endymion still weighed heavily on his mind. Some said that being the sole survivor of that battle was an achievement, however, Mu thought otherwise. It was a curse. The painful memories of losing every single one of his friends left a scar he doubted would ever heal. While he had put that behind him, the thoughts of that day still crept up from time to time, sometimes in the form of unpleasant thoughts, sometimes in the form of nightmares. He shuddered. "The lost ones deserve to be remembered, that's the least thing we can do for them."

Maria looked at the bag in her hand and weighed it thoughtfully. Mu's words had been kind of hurtful. But there was some truth to them. Perhaps not being able to feel anything about people dying wasn't exactly the blessing she thought it to be. Sure, it was wonderful to be able to push those feelings aside with cold logic and be able to concentrate on the task at hand. It had served her well during these last months. Quashing down the tears and desperation and replacing them with other, more pressing thoughts. On the other hand, stripping herself of any emotions and showing them somewhere deep inside wasn't the healthiest thing to do.

Her thoughts drifted back to the moment after Felix had taken out the Lagowe. The desperation, caused by the thought that the chance to kill the Tiger was so close yet impossible, had disappeared the moment she saw the Mobile Suit fall. However the feeling of relief had served as a portal trough which a large amount of all those pent up emotions had emerged. All that tension, fear, anger, helplessness, desperation had surged outwards with such force that she'd been unable to hold back her tears. She had practically broken down in front of the crew. Even though it had lasted only a few minutes, before she regained control of herself, Maria wasn't stupid. She knew that there were a lot of things still bottled up inside her, things trying to force their way out. And when that time would come again, it was certain that it would be a lot worse than before. She had to find a way to let out these emotions without compromising her abilities on the battlefield.

"I'll think about it, Mu … I don't know if I really want that, or whether I'll be able to regain those feelings at all, but I'll think about it." Maria smiled and seemed to be sitting a bit straighter. She put the bag into her coat's pocket and stood up. However, as soon as her eyes fell on the Archangel, a strange look settled in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Mu arched his eyebrow.

Maria looked at him and shrugged. "It's nothing much, but there's one thing that's been bothering me for the last few days. I was thinking about those two machines inside that ship. And I can't stop thinking, what will happen to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"When the Alliance starts building Mobile Suits of their own, I don't think people like me will be in high demand anymore. Mobile Suits will probably become the main fighting force. Tanks won't be the main force on the battlefield." Maria explained with a fair amount of discontent. No one like the fact that their usefulness was coming to an end. "What will my superiors do with people like me? … You pilots have it easy; I bet you'll be the ones chosen to pilot those things."

"You can always learn to pilot a Mobile Suit." Mu pointed out. "It would probably take longer for you, since you're not a pilot, but I'm sure they'll accept anyone who wants to become a Mobile Suit pilot … Or, you can always retire." He smiled and placed his arm around her waist, as they made their way back to the camp.

"Retire? … I'm twenty four, Mu. It's far too early for me to retire from the military and I don't think they'll let me go in the first place. Not while we're at war." Maria gave him a narrow eyed glance when she felt his arm on her back, but otherwise she didn't react. "As for volunteering to become a pilot, no thanks. I'm used to fighting my wars on the ground. Unless they ask me to, I'm staying with threads. What about you? Can we hope to see the great Hawk of Endymion inside a Mobile Suit one day?"

Mu frowned and considered that. "I don't know. I guess it would be cool to try those things out, but going out in combat while inside one? Perhaps. As long as I get some time to prepare. On the other hand I'm more used to flying Mobile Armors and fighters; maybe I should stick to them."

"We're alike, you know that? Dedicated to one type of combat and not eager to exchange it for something else … We're a dying breed." Maria added after a moment of silence, just as they reached the bottom of the hill.

xxxxx

Flay slowly made her way down one of the Archangel's corridors. Currently having no tasks to take care of, she had a lot of free time. Just like everyone else. Ever since the Archangel had reached the Red sea a few days ago, Murrue had issued something of a light duty period for most of the crew, so that they all could go to one of the Archangel's observation decks and enjoy the wonderful scenery.

However, taking time to relax in the sun was near the bottom of Flay's activity list. Not only did she had a fairly sensitive skin, a problem which rose every time she spent some time in the sun without any protection, but there was another issue that prevented her from visiting crew's favorite off duty posts. Since that evening in the desert, a rift had appeared between Flay and all the others. She felt that she wasn't welcomed in their company anymore. It wasn't as if they were avoiding her, more like they never had anything common between them. Back on Heliopolis Flay went to a different class than everyone else did. And, other than Sai and, to an extent Miriallia, Flay never really knew anyone of them.

The rift, while small and most times, easily crossed, had grown to a practically impassable abyss when she had dumped Sai. Her former fiancé would barely look at her whenever Flay entered the same room. He was set on simply ignoring her and whenever they couldn't avoid talking to each other, their conversations were brief and to the point. Anything that had been between them was gone forever.

Flay fully understood, that Sai's actions were more or less justified, however, she couldn't bring herself to feel guilty about it. Sai had no idea what was going through her mind, he didn't understand how she felt. And, no matter how close they might have been in the past, their relationships had never reached the point where they would feel comfortable revealing their secrets to each other.

Same thing went for everyone else. Of course they did deny it, but it was plain for her to see. Tolle, Kuzzey and Miriallia were on Sai's side. Spending duty and their free time together with Sai naturally brought them closer to each other. While they didn't show the dislike or coolness like Sai did, they weren't exactly seeking her company either. They tried to remain neutral, but they were slowly drifting towards Sai's side.

Though they barely knew each other, things were a bit better with Daniel. He stance on things was neutral. Firmly neutral. They had a few conversations, had spent some time together, mostly by coincidence, but that was all. Besides, Flay was seeing less and less of him these last days. Shortly after the last battle Daniel's old obsession with the Pulverizer had returned. Flay had no idea what was the problem this time, but whenever she saw him, the boy was constantly working on the laptop he had procured from nowhere all those weeks ago and barely had the time for a chat.

Of course, none of this would have mattered to her a few days ago. Flay spent most of the time together with Kira and felt little in the need of socializing with anyone else. Unfortunately, things had changed lately. Kira had become more depressed and withdrawn in these few days, wondering around the ship and avoiding everyone. What shocked her the most was that Kira seemed to be trying to avoid her as well. Very often Flay would wake up only to find the bed they shared, empty. And the spot where Kira had been sleeping – lukewarm, or even cold.

Flay had tried to address the issue, but Kira didn't want to talk about it. The best thing she could pry out of him was a vague answer. Something that didn't make any sense at all. It was the same situation Flay and Sai had been. Kira didn't trust her enough to reveal the cause of his depression.

Eventually Flay had managed to get a clue about the possible cause. Kira often had dreams. Nightmares. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes he would be thrashing about and sometimes he would speak in his sleep. Since Flay usually was nearby when Kira had these nightmares, it was hard for her not to notice his troubled sleep or the words he said. One particular word, name had stood out. Athrun. Flay had little idea who this Athrun was, but after asking her distant friends, during the few times she actually talked with them, Flay had found out that Athrun was one of the Gundam pilots trying to kill them. More than that, Athrun was Kira's closest friend, practically a brother.

This realization was enough to convince Flay that this was the reason why Kira was unable to kill them. He didn't want to hurt his friend. And even though Flay wished that Kira killed those responsible for her father's death, no matter what happened to him in the process, she was more than aware that Kira would be unable to go that far. No, unless something extreme happened, Kira would not kill Athrun. Therefore, Athrun had to go. Not only Kira would be capable of killing the rest of the pursuers, but the fight would be much easier for him without Athrun around.

Flay had no idea why she was going this far to make sure Kira was in his top form. She tried to explain it to herself it was a way to make sure her plan was carried out, but lately she found it hard to believe it. There was something else under that thirst for revenge that motivated her to take care of Kira. Flay paused for a moment and shook her head. No, there was nothing else! She wanted Kira to kill those who had killed her father and then, it didn't matter what happened to him afterwards.

This path of thoughts was the reason why Flay was currently walking around the ship. She had to find a way to get rid of Athrun for Kira's sake. However, no one could do much to solve that problem of hers, since they wouldn't understand her request. Fortunately, fate had thrown her a chance. Since the day the Archangel had departed from the Desert dawn's camp, there was a person perfectly suited for the job. Flay entered the galley and sighed in relief. There he was. All alone, with no one else around to make things uncomfortable. Perfect. The person in question was Jack Terossa. The mercenary sent to protect the Archangel. Flay took a deep breath and made her way towards him.

"Umm, excuse me … are you busy?" A girl's voice broke into his thoughts. Jack raised his eyes from his PDA and saw a red-haired girl in a uniform, standing on the other side of the table. She looked uncomfortable and more than a little nervous. Obviously there was something on her mind.

Jack looked her over, the unconcerned look in his eyes was briefly replaced by mild interest. The girl was about sixteen, maybe fifteen. A year or two younger than him, attractive, with nice legs and curves that pleased his eyes. Pale and delicate skin and dark blue eyes. Yes, very attractive indeed. This mission was getting better and better. "Hmm? … Not really. What is it?"

"Mind if I sit down?" Flay asked. Jack stared at her with slight confusion before pointing at the empty chair with the fork. "I want to talk to you about something."

"Oh? I've spent how many days on this ship? Three? Four? And this is the first time someone wants to talk to me. I'm intrigued." Jack plunged the fork into a large piece of meat, or rather two pieces of meat, one on top of the other. Flay rolled her eyes at the amount of food on Jack's tray, there was enough of it to feed three people. "Yeah, I'm a bit hungry. Good food by the way, though, judging by the taste they should have used a bit more cooking oil, slightly less salt and…" Jack trailed off for a moment before shaking his head and returning to the present. "So what do you want?"

"I am Flay Allster." Flay's voice faltered for a second, as she tried to come up with a way to phrase her request.

"Uhuh." Jack muttered indifferently while focusing his attention on the PDA again. "Is that all you came her for? Or is there something else?"

Flay felt a touch of anger well up inside her. Couldn't this guy see how hard it was for her to say it? "Jack, I understand that you are a mercenary and…"

"Raven." Jack's interruption caught her off guard.

"What?"

"Raven, not a mercenary." Jack explained while trying to get his words around the food in his mouth. "Similar purpose, different class … And yes, I am a Raven."

"Good, maybe you can help me, there is something I want you to do." The change in the attitude was quite frankly astounding. The bored expression which had occupied his face, as Jack worked leisurely on the PDA, was replaced by a focused and eager fire in his eyes, as he looked intensely at her. The food tray was pushed aside, whereas the electronic object disappeared in his pocket.

"You want to offer me a contract? Perfect. Pay me enough and I'll bring you head of the Devil himself." Jack grinned widely.

"Ah, well … There is one person and I want you to … umm, to…" Flay couldn't force herself to finish the sentence. No matter how much she wanted for it to happen, saying it out loud was like taking the last step over the edge of a cliff. It seemed so easy before. Why couldn't she do it now? "I want you to …"

"Kill him?" Jack provided with an amused smirk. Flay sat still for a moment, unable to look Jack in the eyes and eventually nodded. "Okay, why not, sounds easy enough. What's the name of the corpse?" Jack shrugged nonchalantly.

"Athrun. Athrun Zala." Partially she was glad that Jack didn't ask why she wanted Athrun dead. She felt that explaining it would be too much for her.

"I see. Well, I guess we could work something out, however, since I currently have a contract, killing this Athrun guy won't be on top of my list. I can't be running around the world, searching for this guy and protecting this ship at the same time."

"Oh, it's okay. As long as you do it, it doesn't matter." Flay suddenly felt weight lifting off her shoulders. "Besides, he is one of the pilots pursuing the Archangel. They've been after us for weeks. And chances are, they'll be coming after us again."

Jack steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them. "Excellent. I love it when the target comes to me, not the other way around." Suddenly his grin disappeared and he gave her a very serious look. "Now, all that remains is to work out the payment."

"Payment? … I don't have any money." Flay realized that she had forgotten the most important thing required to enlist the help of a mercenary.

"You want me to kill someone for free?" Jack's voice dropped by several degrees. "I don't do things for free … however, maybe we can work out a different kind of payment."

Jack didn't say a word for a while and stared not quite at Flay with distant eyes. The look in those eyes didn't make the girl feel any better. One method of payment constantly surfaced in her mind and she found herself praying that Jack would think about something else. There was no way she'd be paying with her body. Not again. Using her body to make Kira fight for her was too much for her conscience to handle.

"Oh, here's an idea." Jack frowned when he saw the girl shiver. _What the hell is she scared of?_ He shook his head and continued. "Maybe you can pay me with information?"

"Information?" A great deal of relief tinted Flay's voice.

"Yes, information. I know very little about what's happening on Earth. Therefore, you can tell me everything about it. Politics, conflicts, major power blocks, countries, those genetic problems you people seem to have going on, oh and don't forget to tell me everything about this war between … uhh, ZAP Alliance and Weed."

Flay actually smiled, glad that Jack hadn't asked her to sleep with him as a method of payment. If anything, telling Jack about the world situation was simple for her. Being the daughter of the … former, vice Foreign Minister meant that Flay knew a lot about what was going on. She cleared her throat and began. "Well, first of all, it's Earth Alliance and PLANTs."

"Whatever."

xxxxx

"There. Despite your efforts of making my life miserable, it's finally done." Kojiro Murdoch announced in a proud voice and scratched his neck.

"I'm not trying to ruin anything. It just happens, besides it was that crazy girl who did this to the Pulverizer not me." Daniel replied in a slightly hurt voice. He was also looking at the Pulverizer and couldn't help but feel relieved as he looked at the new modification the light blue machine now sported.

With the right plasma cannon destroyed during the battle with the Romeo, the Pulverizer had lost half of its ranged weapons, which meant a lot since Daniel preferred to engage the enemy from afar. With only one plasma cannon remaining there was very little he could do in the next fight. Fortunately they had come up with a way around the problem.

After much talk with Kira, Mu and Murrue, it was decided to sacrifice the combo weapon pod from the Strike's Launcher Packs and attach it to the Pulverizer. The heavy 120mm gatling cannon and a pair of 350mm gun launchers beefed up the Pulverizer's arsenal quite nicely. Furthermore it provided Daniel with weapons he could fire without the fear of draining the generator.

"I just hope that contraption holds on when you fire it." Murdoch's thoughts rotated around the main problem they had had when attaching the weapon system to the Pulverizer. Unlike with the Strike, the combo weapon pod wasn't resting on the machine's shoulder. Instead, it was located slightly behind and above the shoulder, supported by a support mount they had scavenged from the destroyed plasma cannon and plugged into the connection port, located behind the right shoulder. "It would be a shame to find out that all this work was a waste of time. Especially when we had to take away half of the Launcher Pack's armament. The major won't like it at all. He was already complaining about the balance issues it will cause to his Skygrasper."

"Just wield a couple of dumbbells on the other side to fix the balance." Daniel glanced in the location of the storage room and sighed. "Are you sure it was impossible to repair that cannon. That thing packed quite a punch."

Almost immediately Kojiro shook his head. "It's impossible, kid. Not only do we have no spare parts for that thing, but no one has any idea how it works … I mean, yeah it fires a bolt of plasma, similar to the beam weaponry we have, but the differences are… It's like comparing night and day ... From what I could tell those plasma cannons don't use magnetic sheathes to contain the plasma, they use something else. The firing chamber is completely different and the capacitors have much higher energy capacity. Way too much for a weapon of that size. Not to mention it is very light and, as you already know, has a decent rate of fire. Honestly, it scares me a little."

"Then you haven't seen the really scary part. You've seen the laser blades on the Pulverizer, right? Guess what, they can't be blocked. Saw it myself when Kira was fighting that AC back in the desert. The blade went right trough the beam saber, as if it wasn't even there! I had no idea those blades could do that. Usually I try to avoid getting close enough to use them."

"Wow, that's some scary stuff, kid." Murdoch regarded the blade emitters with an uneasy look. "I guess it explains why the Strike got messed up like that. I was puzzled for a while, since Kira's supposed to be real handy with the saber and it seemed unlikely that he would be the one getting cut."

"Actually, that girl almost won. If it weren't for Jack, she would have probably killed Kira sooner or later." Daniel muttered darkly and glanced at the Dingo next to the Pulverizer. An apt name. The ginger-yellow and white AC did remind Daniel of a dingo. Especially the head, with a pair of antennas or sensor fins, Daniel had no idea of their purpose, on either side of the conical head, looking a lot like ears. In fact, the entire machine had kind of wolfish appearance to it. The streamlined, yet at the same time solid build spoke of speed and armor combined in perfect balance. "If only I had something like this. I'd probably take care of that girl in an eye blink."

His mood worsened when he realized how pristine and untouched the Dingo was, compared to the Pulverizer. His machine looked like it had just returned from the battle, even though Murdoch had repaired it already. At least as much as he could, given the lack of spare parts and armor plates. The mechanic had even resorted to switching the damaged armor plates on the front with better ones from the sides and back. The idea worked quite well actually, there was just one problem. The armor was a bitch to cut and remove. There were practically no bolts or other discernable means of attachment, despite this, the armor plates held on as if they were fused with the main hull. Furthermore, the cutting torch was almost powerless against it. What should have taken a couple of hours had dragged on to more than a day's worth of intense work to accomplish.

And even though it was considered ready for battle the Pulverizer looked like hell. Welding marks, crisscrossing the front and sides of the core, were still visible, despite the fresh paint. Black scorch marks could be seen under the right arm, where the Duel had shot the Pulverizer all those days ago. An improvised patch, made from an armored plate, used to seal up hull breaches until the warship reached proper repair facilities, covered the hole, made by the Blitz's rocket anchor, in the right shin. Lastly, the left shoulder sported a nasty dent, legacy of a railgun slug from a Bucue.

Daniel grimly realized that the Pulverizer was slowly being destroyed. It was a miracle it was still operational, given the abuse it had suffered. Each new battle left more marks in the machine's armor and there was no telling when the final shot would come. Sooner or later the armor would give and then no tricks or skills would help.

"I just hope we get to Alaska before we run out of ideas on how to keep this thing working."

"We?" Murdoch frowned and gave Daniel an incredulous look. "I'm doing all the work, kid. You're the one coming up with new problems for me to fix." He clapped Daniel on the back and laughed. "Besides I'm not doing this for free, you owe me and my crew a crate of beer."

"You can't be serious! It's your job to take care of the Pulverizer." Daniel stared at him aghast.

"Yes, but there's a difference of simply doing my job and slaving over your machine in order to bring it as close to perfection as possible."

"Close to perfection?" Daniel pointed at the Pulverizer, all gloomy thoughts forgotten in the wake of this injustice. "You call this perfection? It looks like it will fall apart if a mild breeze hits it."

"And whose fault is that? I'm not the one taking it out to play with people who are willing to tear me apart." Murdoch countered with a wide grin. It was so easy to rile this kid up. Messing with Daniel was like a balm to his soul. Sure, it wasn't a good thing to do, but nobody was a saint. "Besides, why are we discussing it? A crate of beer from you." He said and started walking away.

Daniel watched him leave and gritted his teeth. The bastard was right, Daniel could only blame himself for the damage the Pulverizer had suffered, and, truth be told, Murdoch was doing an excellent job of keeping the Pulverizer working. "Fine! You win! … One crate for all, or for each?"

"Good idea, kid." Murdoch called over his shoulder. "You just shot yourself in the foot."

"Screw you bastard!"

xxxxx

The aft observation deck was empty, everyone seemed to be at the other decks, mingling among their comrades and enjoying the company. For Kira, sitting in the middle of the empty deck, it was exactly what he needed right now. He wanted to be alone for a while in order to sort out his thoughts. Mostly they revolved around the events in Africa.

The death of Andrew Waltfield had struck him harder than he had expected. Though he did not deliver the killing blow, or even engage the man during the last battle, Kira was still upset by his demise. Maybe it was because he had met him outside the battlefield and had discovered that the person who was supposed to be his enemy was actually a very decent man. Someone Kira wouldn't mind being friends with.

Unfortunately that possibility was out now. Maria and her soldiers had made sure of it. They had killed him in cold blood, not giving him the chance of surrendering. Kira had overheard the details of that particular battle from a guy called Felix a few days ago. Those very same details were what caused him to feel so depressed. Felix, and other soldiers didn't had any idea about what kind of a man they had killed. In fact, they were happy, always boasting and laughing about the Lagowe's collision with one of the tanks which had led to Waltfield's demise. Kira often had to restrain himself from losing his temper and punching Felix in the face. Waltfield was a good man, who didn't deserve to die.

Unfortunately, Kira didn't have the moral high ground from which to berate them. He knew full well that he had killed a lot of people himself. And no matter how much he disliked that thought, it remained a fact. He had killed them. Whether in self defense or in defense of the Archangel, it didn't matter. The more he fought, the more blood stained his hands and there was no escaping it.

_What should I do?_ Kira hugged his knees and stared at the horizon. _If I don't fight … If I don't kill them…_ Images of all the fights he had participated in flashed before his eyes, forcing him to grit his teeth at the injustice of it all. No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, he was always forced to fight. Otherwise everyone he knew, and loved would die. He remembered how Flay had reacted to her father's death and how she had almost killed herself by attempting to pilot the Strike. _I don't have a choice … I have to keep fighting._

Kira had no idea how long he had been sitting there before the hatch behind him hissed and slid open, allowing someone to step outside. "Oh, you're out here as well?" Kira head a familiar voice. It was Cagalli. On the day when the Archangel departed from the Desert Dawn's camp, Cagalli had declared that she'd be going with them to help them out. Murrue had tried to dissuade her from doing so, but Cagalli didn't listen. She had already decided and Murrue had eventually caved in and allowed Cagalli and her bodyguard to join the crew. Especially since Cagalli had helped the Archangel during the last battle. The girl had managed to severely damage one of the land battleships, forcing it to retreat. And even if the Skygrasper she had been piloting was shot down and was currently being repaired, it was hard not to acknowledge Cagalli's contribution to the victory.

Cagalli walked up to him so that she could stand next to him. She was about to say something, but something caught her eye. "You … You were crying?" Kira immediately jumped to his feet and rubbed his eyes in slight confusion. He was surprised to feel tears in his eyes. They'd been trickling from his eyes without Kira even realizing it. The grim thoughts had found a way to reflect themselves on his face.

Greatly embarrassed, Kira turned to leave Cagalli alone, but he didn't manage to make more than a single step before Cagalli's arm caught him by the wrist. Giving him a slight tug, Cagalli wrapped her arms around him and embraced him in a comforting hug. "There, there." Cagalli rubbed Kira's back with her hands. "It'll be okay."

Kira stiffened at first. The kind gesture took him completely by surprise, but eventually he got over the quandary and relaxed. Being held like this felt nice and he could feel his depression receding. Of course it was soon replaced by slight embarrassment, as he could feel Cagalli's body against his. The thing was, Cagalli was still very unfamiliar to him and receiving a hug from her wasn't what Kira had expected to happen anytime soon.

"Feel better now?" Cagalli released him from the hug and felt relieved to see Kira nod. It was only then she realized that she was holding Kira's hands, something which caused her to blush and quickly release them as if they were red hot. "Uh, don't get the wrong impression! I was just doing this because … I, can't leave someone crying alone, so…" She trailed off and walked over to the wall and sat down on the deck, her eyes closely observing him, as Kira leaned against the railings.

"You know, you're weird … In many ways." Cagalli said after several minutes of silence. "I never expected someone like you telling me about how feelings alone can't protect anything and even hitting me."

"Sorry about that." Kira noticed the accusatory tone in Cagalli's voice.

"It doesn't really matter now." The girl merely shrugged. "You know, there's something I wanted to ask you for a while. Why are you a Coordinator? I mean, why are you fighting for the Alliance if you are a Coordinator. Shouldn't you be fighting for ZAFT?"

"Weird, isn't it? A lot of people have been asking me that." Kira replied with a shake of his head and sat down next to Cagalli. "Honestly I don't know myself."

"I'm not saying it's strange or anything, but the hostilities between Naturals and Coordinators are the reason why this war broke out in the first place. I was wondering what are your thoughts on this?"

"What about you?"

"I don't have anything in particular against Coordinators." Cagalli said indifferently. "It's just that we need to fight back when we're attacked. That's all."

"Same thing goes for Coordinators." Kira watched a pair of seagulls fly over the ship.

Cagalli traced his gaze and sighed. "But you guys can do a lot more things than we can."

"That's only if you work hard and constantly practice, study or train. Just because you're a Coordinator doesn't mean you get various skills or talents in everything since birth. Being a Coordinator merely gives you the potential of doing things faster or better, but if you don't work for it then it doesn't mean anything." Kira explained. "Sure, we do have stronger immune systems and won't contract many diseases, other than that we're not much different from Naturals."

"I see. Turns out you're not the super-humans some people claim you to be." Cagalli smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the sun on her face.

"Trust me, we're not." Kira even managed a short laugh. It died quickly though. "What bothers me is that Coordinators are supposed to be something Naturals wanted to achieve. It seems strange that when this dream is realized they want to turn away from it." Unfortunately he never got to discuss this particular topic, since the sound of waves splashing against the Archangel's hull was interrupted by the alarms going off all over the ship. Kira instantly recognized the sound of the alarm. They were under attack. Again.

xxxxx

"Okay, so PLANTs hate Earth Alliance for blowing up one of their colonies. Earth Alliance hates PLANTs for refusing to do as they are told. But in reality they hate each other's guts … no, wait. It's genes. They hate each other's genes." Jack muttered while he was riding the elevator up to the Dingo's cockpit. "I had no idea one could hate genes. These people certainly have a rich imagination. Oh well, it's just another reason."

He jumped into the seat and strapped in. At the same time he switched his mind towards battle. His first battle on Earth. Something worth remembering. Especially since this was also his first fight against Mobile Suits. He'd been itching to try his skills against them ever since he'd seen them on Circ-City. It was time to find out what they were capable of.

Catching a quick glance of Daniel entering the Pulverizer, Jack couldn't hold back a snort. How could that guy be satisfied with piloting what was practically a museum piece, was beyond him. That model was almost ten years old and contained technology which was largely outdated. The only thing it was good for was pitting it against the cheap, mass produced Muscle Tracers. Pathetic.

Leaning against the back of the seat, Jack activated the AC and closed the cockpit. The seat, along with the section of the back, started moving towards the rest of the AC and the cockpit inside. Various status screens, followed by the main display, lit up as soon as the cockpit was shut. The lights illuminated several unusual features. Namely the leather seat and walnut panels where there was usually plastic. Specially treated to resist intense temperatures, punishment and pretty much everything plastic could, these features had been included when Jack had demanded it. It gave the cockpit a calming and retrospective atmosphere. Luxuriating in the familiar environment Jack brought the Dingo up to combat readiness. This also included the activation of the Muscle Tracing system.

Unlike the second generation system used in the Pulverizer, the Dingo featured more advanced and less uncomfortable version. Though it worked the same way as its predecessor, microscopic needles piercing the suit, shirt, skin and tissue in order to reach the spine, there were several differences. Most notable was the lack of the ungainly frame. The needles were resting in elastic cables, which were attached to the pilot by using special glue. Furthermore, the needles themselves were coated with anesthetic, which meant the whole procedure was completely painless.

With the control system up and running, Jack contacted the bridge in order to get more information about what was going on. "This is Jack in the Dingo. What are we up against?" He found himself looking at a brown haired girl with blue eyes. _If only al of my dispatchers looked like this._

"One moment." Miriallia replied and patched him trough to the same channel Kira, Mu and Daniel were using. No sense in repeating everything several times if the information could be provided to them all at once.

"We have two DINNs on the radar. ZAFT's aerial combat Mobile Suits." Natarle informed them. "Since they're way out here, it means there's a submarine carrier out there somewhere. We haven't located it yet, but there's a chance that more Mobile Suits will be on the way so be careful out there."

"Do we have a plan?" Mu's voice sounded across the channel.

"Not really. Use your Skygrasper to either separate them or lure them where we can take them out. Kira, Daniel and Jack, take positions on the Archangel and provide assistance as needed. That's all."

"Four of us and this ship against two pilots? This will be easy." Jack grinned and grabbed the controls. There was nothing easier than beating up those were weaker than you.

xxxxx

Marco Morassim, person in charge of the ZAFT's attack force and the Vosgulov class submarine carrier, angled his DINN to get a better look at the target. "There it is. The ship Le Creuset couldn't destroy. Let's show him what we can do!" He said to his partner and prepared for a strafing run. He also spared a quick glance at one of the displays, checking the status of the underwater team. So far they were approaching undetected. Good. The Archangel would learn that the DINNs were only a diversion. The real attack would come from the depths of the ocean.

Just as expected, the Archangel opened up with its missiles and CIWS as soon as they got into range. Unfortunately, Marco and his partner were skilled enough to avoid being hit by the attacks. Dodging the rounds fired by the CIWS network, they used their machine guns and shotguns to scour the skies of the missiles.

As soon as they were done with the missiles Marco saw the Archangel's launch catapults open. A second later one of them spat out a Skygrasper class fighter that wasted no time in going after them. The other catapult didn't launch anything; instead the white form of the Strike Gundam walked outside and started firing at the DINNS.

The green beams posed little threat to the experienced pilots. Especially when they moved to where the Strike couldn't see them, much less fire. The Skygrasper was a different problem. Whoever was piloting it was damned good. Even when both of them tried to shoot him down, the Alliance pilot evaded their attacks and went straight after Marco. Apparently the pilot had realized who was in command and had decided to take out the leader first.

"Come here then and try to beat me." Marco faced the incoming Skygrasper. "You, focus on the Archangel and the Strike! Keep their attention away from the Goohns as long as possible." He ordered his partner and jerked to the side, avoiding a shot from the hyper impulse cannon and returned fire with the machine gun, forcing the Skygrasper to change its course.

It was then, when his sensors picked up two additional contacts. In the short amount of time he could spare to look at the Archangel he saw two more machines emerging from the Archangel. One was light blue and copper brown. The Pulverizer. The other one was ginger-yellow and white. "What the hell is going on? There was no mention that the Archangel had three Mobile Suits!" Marco watched the unidentified machine jump into the air and land on the deck between the Gotfried cannons. "Shit!" He gritted his teeth when the Skygrasper came at him again. There was no time to look around anymore; all he could do was to hope that the additional mobile Suit wouldn't be a problem.

xxxxx

All three pilots were just about to open fire on the DINN heading their way, when the Archangel's engines roared to higher level of power and raised the ship from the water. The sudden movement caused the three machines to stagger a little, before regaining balance.

"What's going on? Why is the ship flying?" Daniel looked around searching for an answer.

"We're detecting two underwater Mobile Suits heading our way." Miriallia informed them. "If we stay in the water the Archangel will be vulnerable to torpedoes." As if summoned by her words, two silhouettes emerged from the water and fired several rounds at the Archangel. The small rounds failed to do any damage against the heavy armor; then again Goonhs had other weapons as well. Some of them could cause real damage. Both Mobile Suits disappeared again when Kira snapped off a pair of beam shots from his rifle.

"Damn. This won't work." Kira gritted his teeth when the beams transformed the seawater into steam. Beam weapons were useless underwater. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. "Mister Murdoch." He contacted the ship's hangar. "If I remember correctly there was a bazooka among the supplies we got from the 8th Fleet."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Have it ready then. I'll need it against the Goonhs." Kira replied and walked back inside the ship to change his weapon.

The 120mm machine gun barked heavily as Jack tried to shoot down the nearby DINN. "What's he doing?"

"He's going after the enemies in water." Daniel replied while trying to get used to the unfamiliar feeling of being shaken by the recoil of a munitions based weapon. The gatling cannon had a much higher rate of fire, but the range wasn't as good as Jack's machine gun. As a result his attempts to decrease the amount of enemies failed as well. "Maybe you should go help him? I don't think I'll be able to do much good against the Goonhs."

The Dingo sidestepped a short burst of machine gun shells. "No can do. The blade doesn't work underwater and both my guns will jam if I shoot them. That guy is on his own." He finished his sentence at the same time the Strike, carrying a large weapon, emerged from the catapult. Kira wasted little time in standing around and proceeded to jump straight into water.

Paying little attention to the Strike Jack turned his attention back on the Mobile Suits. They were more maneuverable than he had expected. Judging from his experience with aerial targets these Mobile Suits should be a lot slower due to their size. However, they were almost just as nimble and quick as some of the lightweight ACs he had seen. Jack loosed another missile salvo, firing all twelve of them. He frowned when all missiles were shot down by the combined efforts of both DINNs. Even the one being chased by the Skygrasper could spare enough attention to shred two missiles with the shotgun.

"Archangel. Try not to move too far away. I'll be coming down shortly." Jack said and gunned the Dingo's boosters. With a loud howl the AC took off and darted towards the DINN, shooting the machine gun at the same time.

Judging by the reaction, the enemy pilot hadn't expected him to be able to fly. The DINN moved to the side in a clumsy attempt to dodge his attack and put some distance between them. Unfortunately, in doing so, the DINN's pilot forgot about the Pulverizer below. Though being unable to fly, the Pulverizer was more than capable of firing its weapons. A long stream of high caliber shells crossed the air in front of the DINN, cutting off the easiest escape route.

Then it was too late. The Dingo smashed into the Mobile Suit and plunged a long, yellow laser blade into the machine's body. Immediately the DINN started to fall, with the Dingo on top of it. The pilot was still alive, but all his attempts to change the situation were fruitless. The damaged machine lost more and more parts of it, as Dingo worked it over with the blade, cutting off large pieces of it.

The fact that this was an experiment to find out how effective a laser blade was against a Mobile Suit's armor and where was the exact location of the cockpit, didn't matter to the doomed pilot. His thoughts were cut short when a bright light and intense heat entered the cockpit and brought all consuming darkness.

Daniel watched the two machines fall into the water, creating one hell of a splash. At the same time he spotted another splash in the water. This one came from below. "Looks like Kira is doing his part. That's two down and two to go." He urged the Pulverizer into a carefully aimed jump and landed on the same spot where the Dingo had been.

He was looking around, waiting for the second Goonh to surface, when Mu's voice reached him. "Hey, Daniel, get this bastard off me!" He spun around and saw the Skygrasper speeding mere meters above the water, a huge rooster tail behind it and, a bit further away a DINN in hot pursuit.

"What do you want me to do? The Pulverizer can't fly!" Daniel took a sharp breath when he saw the DINN open up with both weapons in its hands. He let out the breath when he saw Mu veering off to the side and dodging the shots.

"Listen! I'll pass the Archangel on the port side. If we're lucky he'll stay on me. I'm not sure the CIWS will be able to get him so it's up to you. Just be careful and don't shoot me."

"Okay. I'll try." Daniel swallowed hard. He'd never been an accurate shooter. His usual method consisted of placing as many shots on the enemy as possible as quickly as possible, hoping that they would eventually hit. Shooting a Mobile Suit, moving at high speed, in the few seconds it was in range, while avoiding shooting down his ally, was a situation that required a completely different approach from his usual one. He spared a quick look around and, seeing that he was currently safe, gripped the controls.

What followed next was a blur. There was no other way to describe it. The Skygrasper shot past the Archangel and was gone before Daniel fully realized it. The clear sight of the target DINN was ruined by water splashing on the ship and the Pulverizer, forcing him to fire almost blind. Going mostly by his calculations than something he could see. Daniel mashed down the triggers and sent a stream of cannon shells and plasma bolts in the approximate direction of the Mobile Suit.

"Good job, Daniel! You hit him." Mu cheered over the radio. "You took the wing right off."

The Pulverizer's cameras were clean enough for Daniel to get a clear look at what was going on. It was just like Mu had told him. The DINN was still operational, but the right wing was missing, blown off by the plasma cannon, if the molten marks on the remaining wing were of any evidence. He had been unable to destroy the ZAFT machine, but it hardly mattered. With one wing gone, the Mobile Suit's maneuverability was crippled enough to prevent it from gunning after the Skygrasper. On the contrary, it was Mu's turn to go after the damaged Mobile Suit.

xxxxx

"Shit!" Marco tried to ignore the alarms and twisted away from a hyper impulse blast. He had been played like a fool. Falling for the oldest trick in the book. By all means he should be dead right now. Only by pure luck his DINN hadn't taken that shot to the body. He used the shogun to ward of the pesky fighter and buy him some time to think.

The attack was a disaster. Two of his Mobile Suits were destroyed, both of them taken by surprise after realizing they had underestimated their opponents. None of the enemies were even slightly damaged and the last thing he heard from the second Goonh was…

Two events disrupted Marco's thoughts and forced him to make the decision to withdraw. Both of these events came from the water. One was a large pillar of water, accompanied by the second Goonh's icon winking off his display. The second event took the form of that unidentified Mobile Suit emerging from the water. The strange machine trembled once, as it's propulsion system adjusted itself to the change of the environment, and opened fire with the machine gun.

The distance was too great for Marco to feel immediately threatened by the attack, but he realized one thing. He was all alone against these people. And no matter how much it picked at his pride, he had lost the chance to outdo Rau. Realizing that the battle was lost, Marco poured every bit of power into the thrusters and fled the battlefield.

"It's not over yet." He promised to himself. "I'll take down all of them. The Mobile Suits, the Skygrasper and that damned ship. All of them."


	23. Bad Company

"So you're saying it's a submarine carrier?" Murrue stopped shortly after rounding the corner and looked at him.

Mu shrugged and swallowed a bite of the sandwich. "Probably. It seems unlikely that those troops came straight from Carpentaria. We're too far out. Furthermore since we're moving it would be hard to track us from that kind of distance. And it can't be a ship either. We would have picked it up on our radar. Besides, the only ships ZAFT has are those of the Oceanic Union and they are mostly used for guarding the waters around Australia. Submarine carrier is the only explanation."

"I see." Murrue sighed. "This doesn't look good; fighting against underwater enemies isn't something we are used to."

"Well, if they attack us again we can try heading towards shallower waters to have a fighting chance. And if we don't take them out, they'll just keep trailing after us." Mu advised, while taking the last few bites of his snack. However, Murrue was still doubtful.

"I think it might work." She rubbed her forehead thoughtfully. "Still, I think we should try to come up with a backup plan."

She was completely unprepared for the sudden clap on the back Mu gave her, causing her to stumble a few steps before regaining her balance. "Don't worry about such things. We've made it this far." Mu cheerfully gave her a thumbs up, ignoring the glare she gave him. "We'll get through this."

Murrue arched her eyebrows and gave him an incredulous look. The sheepish grin on Mu's face was more of a reason for her frown than his words. "Honestly, how can you say stuff like that without any proof! There are lots of things that can go wrong."

"That's called encouragement!" Me replied, still maintaining his smile and playfully tapped her nose. He laughed when the woman started and jumped from the unexpected touch. "Cheer up!"

Murrue watched him leave with a mixture of amusement and confusion in her face. She'd never seen him acting like this and it did puzzle her a little. However, Mu was right. So far the Archangel had been lucky. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea of placing some trust in that luck? Apparently Mu was already doing that. "Might as well consider pushing my luck as well. It might pay off." Murrue muttered and started walking after Mu. Besides, to be completely honest, she did kinda like it when Mu was like this. They all needed a dose of positive emotions and lighthearted behavior.

xxxxx

"Why are we here again?" Juliet leaned back in her chair and placed her legs on the table. Other than her, Yzak and Dearka, the briefing room was empty and it had been almost empty for more than ten minutes now. With nothing to do, she was becoming very bored.

Yzak glared at her. "We are here because Commander Le Creuset ordered us to be here. He has news regarding our mission. Furthermore, we're also waiting for Athrun and Nicole to arrive. And it would be good if you could sit normally. You will be in the presence of a superior officer."

"I'm a Raven, I'm not the standard rank and file." Juliet shot back, though she did remove her legs. Like everyone else, she had changed out from the flight suit into something more comfortable. For Yzak and Dearka it meant ZAFT's elite uniforms. For Juliet it was something different. She wore black jean shorts, a gray short shirt that showed off her abdomen, a tan colored jacked with a slight military look to it, and a pair of light brown boots, reaching to her mid calf. "Oh, and what about the two guys we're waiting for? Who are they supposed to be?" Both pilots gave her surprised looks.

"Wait, you mean you've been assigned to our team without being told everything about us?" Dearka was the first to speak. He was sitting behind the table placed next to Juliet's whereas Yzak was standing in front of them and leaning against his. "Who exactly hired you without bothering to explain important details?"

Juliet shrugged indifferently. "I didn't bother to ask. Didn't matter anyway. All I needed to know was the location of the Archangel and your team. As for who hired me, I'm not telling. Ravens usually don't reveal the identities of their clients."

"That is still a stupid idea. Only a fool would accept a mission without gathering as much information as possible." Yzak spoke up, his arms crossed across his chest. "I think it bit you in the ass during the last battle."

Juliet's eyebrow rose at the dig. "You know, I usually prefer to use information I've gathered myself and base my opinions on it ... I don't know much about him." The girl gestured at Dearka without breaking eye contact with Yzak. "But I already have made some conclusions about you. Yzak."

"Oh, fuck!" Dearka muttered, sensing another disaster approaching.

"So far you look like a guy with serious anger issues, tendency to act on impulse and blame others for the messes you've created yourself, while giving into your anger whenever someone refuses to fall for your vocal outbursts and points out your own faults." Juliet finished with a nasty smirk. They both ignored the desperate groan from Dearka's side, as he tried to defuse the situation without getting fully involved.

Strangely, Yzak didn't launch into an uncontrolled rage, as he usually did whenever someone talked to him like that. Sure, he was obviously angry, but he seemed to be doing a pretty good job of holding himself together. Judging by the smirk that mirrored Juliet's own, Yzak also had a couple of things to say. "Hmm, usually I'd do something about someone who talks to me like that, but considering that it comes from a careless and arrogant girl, who overestimates herself and fails to realize the strength of her opponents, while putting up a façade of indifference, coupled with the tendency, similar to my own, to point out the faults of others when being blamed by someone, your words lose a lot of their impact." They both glared at each other, their eyes narrowed, as they tried to come up with something more damaging. Nothing came to mind, as they didn't know each other enough to land a couple of more shots.

They would have kept their staring contest for some time, if not the doors had opened to admit Rau Le Creuset with Athrun and Nicol in tow. Almost instantly the two Redcoats jumped to their feet and saluted their Commander, whereas Juliet merely nodded, fully aware that Yzak could see her out of corner of his eye. Not being part of the military was really useful sometimes.

Rau returned the salute. "Good to see you three." He looked at Athrun and Nicol, who were looking at Juliet with confusion evident on their faces. "Athrun, Nicol, this is Juliet Thule. A Raven who was hired to help with the Archangel problem." His gaze turned towards Juliet. "I assume you already know about Athrun and Nicol, the other half of my team." Juliet nodded again, though Yzak did exhale a bit stronger than usual, the result of successfully disguising a laugh.

Athrun gave the girl a quick glance before something else caught his attention. "Yzak, your face." He gasped when he saw the wicked scar across Yzak's face. He had been fully aware that Yzak had been injured, but actually seeing the scar was a different matter. He also couldn't quite figure out why his comrade hadn't asked the scar to be removed. Medicine was more than advanced enough to remove it without leaving a trace.

Yzak didn't answer. Instead he snorted in annoyance and sat down, not bothering to look at him. Behind him Dearka piped up. "He has decided to leave it as a reminder until the day he destroys the Strike. Good to see you, by the way."

"A level of dedication we all should share, to some degree." Rau smiled. "Take a seat you two. Let's begin." While Athrun and Nicol took their seats, Rau turned on the massive, wall mounted display that hung in front of the chairs, just like chalkboards in schools. The image settled on a map, showing most of the world, starting with Africa and stretching across Asia and the Pacific Ocean to the West coast of Americas. "Now, you all are aware that the Archangel has left the Africa by now and is making its way towards Alaska. Intel indicates that they are taking the sea route and are somewhere in the Indian Ocean. We have already informed our forces in the area to be on the lookout for the Alliance ship. However their chances of actually bringing down that ship are … debatable."

"We should be the ones going after it. That ship is ours!" Yzak said fiercely. "I won't allow a couple of Carpentaria bastards to take the glory for destroying the Archangel!"

"This'll probably sound strange, but I agree with Yzak." Dearka said in calm, but no less determined, voice. "That last battle was a humiliation."

"Truth be told, I feel pretty much about the same as you do." Rau took a glance at the map behind him as if knowing the exact location of the Archangel. Then he looked at his team and carefully studied their expressions. Yzak and Dearka were, of course, ready to go after the ship at the moment's notice, Nicol and Athrun didn't share their enthusiasm, but they seemed to be willing to go as well. Juliet didn't seem to be interested in the slightest. She watched the map with a completely blank face, paying more attention to the shapes and locations of landmasses than the projected courses and ZAFT's unit locations. To her it was just business, she didn't have a personal reason to go after the ship. Still, she was paid to do it and Rau was certain the Raven would do exactly what was needed.

"I'd be glad to go after the Archangel, but there are other things that require my attention. With preparations for Operation Spit Break taking priority I don't have the time to go around chasing that ship. However, if you all are so eager to go, I suppose I could send you guys off by yourselves." He adjusted his mask, smiling as the pilots jumped to the offer, literary in Yzak's case. "Then I form a squad consisting of Yzak, Dearka, Juliet, Nicol and Athrun. The leader shall be…" He trailed off, his gaze passing over everyone before settling on Athrun. "Athrun, I'll leave it up to you."

"Me? But I'm not sure…" Athrun's protests were cut short when Rau walked over to him and encouragingly placed his hand on Athrun's shoulder.

"We're bound by destiny to this ship, Athrun." He said enigmatically. "I know it might feel difficult, but I expect only the best from you. I'll go and arrange a transport for you. Good luck everyone." Rau gave one of his trademark smiles and left the room.

Athrun stared at the open doorway and tried to sort out what just happened. Why did Rau pick him? Why not Yzak, Dearka or Nicol? They all were capable of leading their own teams. Was it because Kira was Athrun's friend? If so, then that strange line made sense. He had the strongest ties to that ship. Maybe that was the reason for Rau's decision. However, there was something that confused him. What did Rau mean by "we"?

"Zala team, huh?" Dearka's voice broke into his thoughts.

"I will closely observe your leadership methods; maybe they will help me in the future." The disdain in Yzak's voice was obvious. He didn't bother to hide his anger for being passed over by the chance of being in command.

Athrun turned around and realized that everyone was standing in a semi circle around him and giving him various looks. All of which meant the same thing, they were waiting for his orders. "Uh, until the transports are ready, you all can rest for a while." Giving orders felt a bit strange to him. It felt even stranger when Yzak and Dearka obeyed him and left the room. He couldn't help smiling a small grin when the door closed behind them. Yzak was furious, as always when Athrun was a few steps in front of him. He turned his head back and noticed the only girl of his team watching him, as if evaluating.

Juliet noticed his gaze and smiled. "I guess you're my new boss. As that guy already told you, I'm Juliet Thule and about earlier, I lied a little. This is the first time I've heard about you two."

"I see. In that case allow me to introduce myself. I am Athrun Zala and this is Nicol Amalfi." The chance to avoid thinking about his promotion and inter-unit conflicts was too good to pass. Besides, he had to find out more about this girl, since she was now part of his team.

Nicol shook the girl's hand. The gesture itself surprised him a little. Usually girls didn't go around shaking hands. "Nice to meet you, Juliet. By the way, that's a very unusual name. You don't hear it often."

"Thanks, I get that a lot. But wait until you see Romeo, I wonder what will you say then." Juliet laughed. "Actually Romeo is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. In the last fight, it got messed up a little and I had to call in a repair team from Circ-City. They arrived only a couple of hours ago and are currently working on my AC. I don't know if they'll be done by the time we have to leave, but in any case I wanted to ask, would it be possible to delay the departure until it is ready? Being left behind isn't what I prefer."

"I'll see what I can do, but don't get your hopes up. The flight schedule is pretty tight, so I don't know if they will let us do as we please." Athrun frowned slightly. Already there were requests aimed at him. This was not going to be easy.

"Great, couldn't ask for more. I'll check out how far the repairs are and hopefully I'll meet you on time." Juliet sighed in relief and immediately hurried out of the room.

Nicol shook his head in admiration. "She seems to be a nice girl. I don't think we'll have any problems working with her."

"I hope so. I really do. There are enough problems already, and I don't know if we can afford a couple of new ones."

xxxxx

"I'm saying, it's that damned Tiger's fault. The bastard put a curse on Pumba when we wasted him." Felix whined, running his hand through his mohawk. He was forced to stop when he felt something on the bald part of his head. Slowly, he looked at his hand and gasped. "See, he's messing with me even now. How do you expect me to work in these conditions? It's impossible!"

"Uhuh, yeah, whatever." Maria didn't look away from the magazine she was reading. "Would you like some cheese with your whine?" She held up the said dairy product on her fork.

Felix tried to shake off the oil smear from his hand, but his attempts were doomed to failure. "I'm serious, this can't be normal. I know I washed my hands, there shouldn't be any oil on them. So, why?" Still, no response from Maria. The woman seemed to be glued to the magazine she had found somewhere on the Archangel.

"Oh, look at that. Members of the band Iron Blitz have decided to enlist." She checked the date. The magazine was more than two months old and the information inside was seriously outdated. Despite this, for someone like her, who had spent almost a year in the North Africa, it was relatively fresh. "Hmm, given the amount of training the army gives during wartime, I guess those idols are rotting on some forgotten battlefield by now. Poor saps, they had a couple of decent songs."

"Are you even listening to me? Your faithful Captain is suffering from curses, while you're reading some crappy tabloid magazine."

Maria threw the magazine down on the table and glared at Felix with a frustrated look. "It's not a curse. I know how much you mess up your work when food is nearby. It hasn't changed from the day I met you, so spare me the complaints, eat your food and get back to work. Maybe it'll help you get rid of that fat ass of yours." She finished with a nasty grin. Several soldiers sitting within earshot, started to chuckle. The laughs died down the second they realized Felix could hear them. His glare further increased the speed with which silence took hold of nearby area of the galley.

Satisfied with his victory, the plump Captain turned his attention back on Maria. "Hey, fat ass is a status symbol!" Felix pointed a thick, oil smeared finger at her from across the table. "As for the work, I'm trying my best, but the…" He was about to use his favorite excuse, but he realized the situation had changed. More than that, Maria was thinking exactly the same thing.

"What! Sand keeps getting everywhere? We're not in the desert anymore, so that excuse you used for the last ten or so months won't work anymore. You're not shirking on your duties anymore, Felix. So be a good boy, finish up your meal and go back and clean Pumba's oil filters. All of them!" Even though Maria was smiling, she wasn't joking. She often veiled iron clad orders with jokes or carefree attitude. It was her way of commanding, and so far it had been effective enough.

Felix studied her for a moment and finally his shoulders sagged and he let out a defeated sigh. "Okay, fine, whatever. I can see there's no mercy to be expected from you today." He glanced down at his half finished meal. "You even managed to ruin my appetite, Major. Have you no heart!"

Maria crossed her arms across her chest. "Yeah, I'll tell you when I start to care. You brought this on yourself." Despite the appearance, the whole situation was nothing more than them messing around with each other. Everyone who had served under them had realized it sooner or later and eventually learned not to pay attention to their bickering. It was simply the way their relationship was. Furthermore, occasionally acting like a soulless bitch was the only way Maria could make Felix actually do something. If she didn't use the stick to the back approach from time to time, Felix would either find a way to get rid of any responsibility or do a half-ass job. "I've been telling you to make sure everything is working fine, for weeks. Now it has finally caught up to you." Maria finished, not even bothering to hide her satisfaction for Felix's misfortune.

"Excuse me, mind if I sit here?" Natarle's voice interrupted Maria's brief educational lesson. Maria looked up and saw Natarle standing nearby, with a food tray in her hands. The black haired woman was looking at her, waiting for an answer.

Maria shifted her position, freeing up some extra space on the bench. "Sure, why not? Go ahead." The small galley wasn't very crowded; there were a couple of places free at the tables. However, the problem was that all occupants were Maria's soldiers. Almost thirty soldiers who had survived or had been rescued from their vehicles after their last battle. Though they didn't cause any trouble, for now, they were a bit too rough for the relatively "softer" Archangel's crew and Maria could see why Natarle didn't want to sit squeezed in among them.

"Thank you. It's just that I'm still getting used to seeing the galley so crowded. Before you joined us, the ship seemed to be almost empty, of course it is still nowhere near its full capacity, but it does seem a bit smaller." Natarle explained and took her seat next to Maria.

"I know what you mean. After the desert, it sometimes feels like I'm trapped in a small box with no way out. Even that large hangar you have feels crowded. It's a good thing Murrue allowed us to use the outside observation decks, seeing all that water around does help a lot to regain the inner balance." Maria said understandingly.

"Actually it's not that bad. I've been spending a lot of time on this ship and it never really bothered me. I guess it's something you get used to eventually."

"Easy for you to say, you're a navy officer. Being used to spending a lot of time on a ship is expected from you. I, on the other hand, do most of my service on the ground. And even if it is a bit crappier sometimes, not being bound by any walls is a definite plus."

Natarle shrugged. "To each, his own I guess." She was still slightly amazed how quickly her relationship with Maria had progressed. Even though they knew each other for a week or two, Natarle felt a lot more relaxed when around the brown haired Major. Part of it was Maria's friendly nature, which allowed her to easily gain friends and let people open up to her. But the major part of it was the fact that Maria wasn't her superior and was in no way related to her service on the ship.

It was the very same reason why she was unable to form true friendship with Murrue. Murrue was the Captain of the ship and her superior, and that pretty much eliminated any chances of her getting friendly with Murrue. Natarle knew it full well that Murrue preferred to form close relationships with her subordinates, but to her it was something she tried to avoid if possible. It was a legacy of her upbringing. She had been taught by her father that emotions had no place on the battlefield. Cold logic ruled the battle and determined who won or lost. Not only it was easier to perform on the battlefield, but keeping distance between her and others made it easier to deal with losses among the crew. Therefore, having Maria on board, someone who wasn't part of the crew and would most likely leave the ship once they reached their destination meant that Natarle had someone to talk more openly with.

"I don't want to interrupt your friendly chat, but I do have a request. Miss Badgiruel, could you talk with your Captain on my behalf and arrange a more … uhh, involved post during combat. Being part of the damage control isn't the most active job when the ship isn't taking damage and I hardly know how to repair ships. Therefore, I'd be real happy to be able to do something more productive." Felix spoke up from his side of the table. "Like, being in charge of the ship's weapons, especially those Gotfrieds you have."

Natarle didn't even bother considering it before replying instantly. "It's impossible. Murrue is too attached to the current bridge crew to replace them, furthermore, the people we have are skilled enough already."

Maria cocked her head slightly and frowned. "Oh? Even those kids?"

"Yes." Natarle replied after a brief thought. "There were problems at first, when they were getting the hang of it, but eventually they understood what was required of them. And I have to say, I am actually impressed by the amount of skill they're displaying." She paused, her mind revolving around certain members of the bridge crew. "They are wonderful children, but they should have never gotten involved in all this."

"So I guess there's no way we can muscle in on the bridge?" Felix asked sourly while resting his head in the palm. "It looks like increasingly younger people are taking the serious roles nowadays, while veterans like me are relegated to secondary tasks and background duties."

"How can you still be surprised after what we have gone through, Felix? Don't you remember those Mobile Suit pilots we fought? Most of them were barely out of their teens."

"Well, ZAFT has the highest percentage of young people in its ranks, when compared to other militaries. Given their mental and physical abilities, Coordinators are able to do the same tasks as an adult when they are only fifteen or sixteen years old. " Natarle pointed out.

"Thanks for reminding me. It's good to know that a bunch of teenagers are kicking my ass."

Natarle smiled one of her rare smiles at Felix's comment. "Of course putting someone so young in a serious position has serious drawbacks."

"Wait. Let me guess. Puberty."

"Correct. From what I know, they do get over it faster than Naturals, but it is also more intense, emotionally speaking. Putting someone, going through that hell, in charge of, say a department in some company is dangerous enough. Getting them involved in a war … I don't know what ZAFT is thinking by sending such young pilots to front lines, but they're asking for trouble." Natarle recalled everything she had been told about Coordinators. It wasn't hard. ZAFT's strengths and weaknesses were among the favorite topics of discussion in the academy where she studied.

"I don't know, Natarle. Given the current situation of the war I'd say ZAFT has no reason to worry about the mental state of their soldiers, as long as they manage to retain their superiority and keep winning battles like they've been doing. Of course, when the course of war changes and ZAFT gets their asses kicked a couple of times then it will be exactly like you said. I've seen a lot of soldiers committing suicide, suffering from various mental disorders or resorting to drugs due to stress of war. And those were relatively experienced soldiers, most of them at least twenty one years old, with several months or even years of service under their belts. Basically, if the casualties start mounting, we're potentially looking at a massive PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) wave. ZAFT will collapse from within."

Natarle gave her a disbelieving look. The way Maria said it; it looked like ZAFT was just a single step from total collapse. She knew how dangerous PTSD was, but apparently Maria was putting too much hope on that. "Are you sure it will be a major factor? Yes, there will be a higher percentage of people experiencing mental problems, but I doubt it will become a major factor. Human mind is actually very good at dealing with such experiences."

"Maybe you're right." Maria shrugged. "I guess it depends on the person. It's just that I've seen how that boy uhh … Kira, right? I've seen how Kira's been acting lately. He stays away from people, doesn't talk much, constantly works on the Strike and god knows what else. And I have to say, that boy has a very real possibility of going over the edge. There are a lot of…" However, much to their displeasure, the Archangel's alarms went off, warning them of an incoming attack.

"This is getting ridiculous." Natarle muttered as she joined the others in a hurried rush towards the exit and their respective battle stations. It was as if whenever something interesting came up, they were interrupted by the untimely intervention of the enemy.

xxxxx

Athrun took his eyes away from the endless ocean far below, a captivating sight if there ever was one, and focused his attention on Juliet. Just like he'd been a few seconds earlier, she was staring outside the window as well, her mouth slightly agape. "Judging by that look this is your first time seeing so much water." He decided to strike up a conversation. To pass the time if nothing else.

"I've never seen so much water before." Juliet muttered absentmindedly, before shaking her head when she felt Athrun's gaze on her. "Sorry, got carried away a little. What did you say?"

"I was talking about the ocean. Quite a view, huh?" Athrun repeated with an understanding smile. He understood Juliet daydreaming when presented with sights like this. Everyone, not born on Earth, was an easy prey for the planet's beauty.

"Yeah, Utopia has nothing on this."

"Could you tell me a bit more about Utopia? They didn't tell us much about where you guys came from." Athrun inquired. He was itching to find out more about where these Utopians had come from.

Unwillingly taking her eyes off the fantastic view Juliet quickly composed her answer. "Actually there's not much to tell, I never spent much time outside Layered. All I heard about rest of the planet were various stories and you can probably assume how reliable they were. Anyway, the entire planet is one, huge desert, and not the friendly kind you have here. There are a lot of intense sandstorms all over the place; therefore most of the planet is pretty much unexplored." Juliet explained without much enthusiasm, plainly, telling about Utopia wasn't something she found exciting.

"You spent your entire life in Layered? Underground?"

"Yes, the city was big enough for me to never even consider going to the surface. I have spent all my life in Layered and I haven't seen all of it. There were nearly one billion inhabitants in Layered, and we still had more enough space to spare. I mean there even were sections of huge lakes or forests or jungle in which you could easily get lost. All of that, and more, – underground." Athrun had to admit, he was impressed. The magnitude of the city sounded almost scary. He had considered PLANTs to be the most advanced and spacious artificial habitats created by man, yet it seemed that this Layered put them to shame. At least that was the picture he got from Juliet.

"What is the state of Layered now? I heard it was destroyed during the Great Destruction."Athrun recalled a brief mention of the disaster during the briefing on Utopia.

"Can't say for sure. Yeah, it's certainly a horrible place to live, but I don't think it was destroyed in the true sense of the word. No one really knows what happened. Imagine, a city where anarchy rules. Law and order are mere terms in some forgotten history books. The Controller, which was supposed to oversee everything, has cut off all contact for years. Most of the city is divided into three zones, each governed by one of the corporations, with various gangs and bandits ruling the buffer zones in between. Turf wars are a common thing and if you don't belong to one of the sides, you're pretty much screwed. A lot of innocent people die every day." Juliet paused and looked outside the window. An expression of a painful memory evident in her eyes.

"Suddenly, it gets worse. Several Sectors, which make up each, individual Layer, go silent. Later we find out they're all dead. At the same time, fighting all over Layered intensifies when a new force starts destroying everything in its path. This drags on for some time, several years of back-and-forth fighting against this menace eventually culminating of several nuclear bombs being detonated in parts of the city as well as over the surface cities. A few months later, just as people are starting to figure out the situation, the corporations announce that we're abandoning the planet. This sparks a new wave of chaos, as there isn't enough room for all survivors. As soon as enough people have reached Circ-City, the whole station is taken through some kind of a gateway ... Now, tell me, do you even remember the beginning of what I just told you?"

Athrun thought for a moment and shook his head. Juliet was right; he couldn't recall anything beyond the main idea. He gave a short sigh, realizing that Juliet had given him two answers. "I see, in short, Layered is damaged, but no one knows to what degree, correct?"

"I'm certain someone high and mighty knows, but, by and large, you're right. We, the little people, don't know any details." Juliet gave a short, dark laugh. It was too often the case. Those in charge were often fully aware of the situation, while others were nothing than dirt, caught between the cogs of their schemes. It had frustrated her at first, but eventually she had stopped caring about it and settled on pursuing her own goals. Of course, just because she had stopped fighting against it didn't mean Juliet had no interest in finding out what was going on. It was one of the keys of survival. Information was power, as they said. "I answered your question, now I want you to do the same for me, Athrun." She watched him nod. "What is this war about?"

Athrun wasn't very surprised about the nature of the question. In fact he was expecting something along those lines. Juliet was a mercenary after all and for mercenaries knowing the situation of the world politics was crucial if they wanted to have a job. Therefore he told her everything he knew about it. The creation of Coordinators, the conflicts between Naturals and Coordinators, the Bloody Valentine incident, deployment of N-jammers and Mobile Suits everything he knew about the war and the situation on Earth. Naturally, he left out several important aspects, to which he was privy as the son of PLANT's Supreme Council member. No use in revealing PLANT and ZAFT's secrets to Juliet. Just the main overview of the situation the world was in. When he was done, Juliet leaned back in her seat and took a moment to mull over what she had just heard. Athrun noted, with a faint smile, that Juliet seemed to have an unconscious habit of playing with the beaded strand whenever she was lost in her thoughts. She had done the same thing during the time she had been staring at the ocean.

"That's some heavy stuff. The reason why this war started is scary and stupid at the same time. I mean, seriously, genetics? You start a war over some genes?" Juliet shook her head in mild disbelief. Humans could sometimes fight for the silliest of reasons.

"I'm glad you're seeing the point, but I should warn you. The difference is noticeable, and a lot of people have bigger issues with it than you think."

"Maybe you're right. I've only known Coordinators for what, a week? Before you told me this, I wasn't even aware that there were supposed to be any differences between people who live in PLANTS or Earth." She grinned widely. "Maybe I'll turn out to be one of those Coordinator haters after all? Just give me time." She chuckled, her laughs died down when she saw Athrun looking at her with a slight frown. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that people don't usually joke about things like that." He explained in a neutral voice. Jokes like that weren't exactly funny. Not when there were people who were very hostile to Coordinators.

"Oh, I see." Juliet said and looked outside where she thought she had seen something among the clouds above them.

"What's wrong?" Athrun watched her movements.

"I think I saw something out there. A glint of sun off the metal, or so it appeared. Could have been my imagination." She almost pressed her nose against the window as she tried to find the object she had seen earlier. A second later, it turned out it wasn't her imagination. The entire plane banked sharply to the right almost sending Juliet staggering across the aisle. Athrun, who was still sitting in his seat, and had braced himself, reached out and caught her hand, steadying her. "Thanks." The girl nodded.

Athrun jumped out of his seat and ran for the cockpit. "It looks like you were right. There's something out there. We should better ask the pilots." He lead the way into the cockpit where a pair of pilots were busy working with the controls and shouting into the radio.

The copilot saw them enter and correctly guessed the question on their minds. "We're under attack. Sensors picked up an Alliance aircraft seconds before it almost ran into us. It flew right past us, but I don't think he's gone."

"There it is!" The pilot threw down the radio, after it was clear that there was no way of getting help in time and pointed outside. "What the hell it is doing way out here? There weren't supposed to be any Alliance forces in the area."

Athrun and Juliet bent down to get a better look through the windows. An Alliance Skygrasper was flying a few hundred meters alongside them. The pilot was probably just as surprised about the situation as they were, since the fighter didn't make any maneuvers that would endanger the ZAFT's transport plane. "Looks like it's damaged, probably a survivor of an earlier engagement." He noted the faint trail of smoke coming from the plane. "Maybe he doesn't want to fight?"

His guess turned out to be wrong. Just as he managed to finish the sentence the Skygrasper's top turret swung over in their direction and snapped off a pair of green beams. The beams missed, however it didn't matter. The bulky transport plane was hardly a worthy opponent. Even to a damaged fighter. "This is not good." The pilot gritted his teeth when he saw the fighter veer off, seconds before he could get a lock with one of the plane's fifty caliber machineguns. There were only two of them, one on each side and they were more of a last resort weapons than proper tools of an aerial dogfight.

The copilot kept his eyes on the fighter and uttered a curse. "Fuck. Looks like that bastard is going to dive in from above. We got no weapons pointing in that direction! What do we do?"

The plane made another sharp turn, making Juliet and Athrun desperately grab for something to hold on to. However, it was only an act of desperation. Everyone knew it. They were at the Alliance pilot's mercy. "You two! Get into your machines! We're going to have to jettison them!"

"You're kidding, right?" Juliet asked bemusedly. "We're over a fucking ocean! There's no way I can make it to the shore on my own."

"We're currently flying over a large group of islands. The ocean's full of them, so there's a good chance you'll be able to land safely. We will also have a better chance of getting away from that damaged fighter if all that weight in the cargo hold is gone, so you'll be increasing our chances as well. Now go!" The pilot said the last part a bit more louder than he wanted, but the situation clearly warranted it.

"He's right. Let's go!" Athrun pulled Juliet after him into the passenger section. Their run towards the cargo hold was made more difficult when the pilot dropped the plane several hundred meters lower in a desperate attempt of avoiding the enemy.

"Whoa!" Juliet screamed when a hail of fifty caliber bullets and 20mm rounds raked the plane, blowing holes into the passenger compartment. Fortunately it was the middle part of the section that was subjected to punishment. Still, the noise of explosions and the following drop of the pressure, made her ears ring.

Athrun opened the doors and led the way down a short staircase, through another set of doors and into the cargo hold where their machines were waiting. The compartment was brightly lit and gave them full view of the Aegis and the Romeo inside. Both machines were cramped into the plane, with the white AC being the closest one to the hatch. Juliet wasted little time and ran towards the Romeo, pausing only to collect the bag with the flight suit from the storage lockers.

Having a bit of spare time, Athrun activated the intercom. "We're in the cargo hold and are almost ready to go. How are things on your end?"

"The bastard's not letting up!" The pilot's voice crackled back. "We're going to try a steep climb in a few moments. We'll open the hatch then, so it's best you're inside your Mobile Suit by then, got it?"

"Yeah. Thanks. Good luck." Athrun grabbed his own bag and ran for the Aegis. Juliet was already inside and was bringing the Romeo online. "Juliet! They'll open the hatch soon. Get ready!" He grabbed the lift cable and begun his ascent.

Meanwhile Juliet had activated all of Romeo's systems. Sensors included. The AC's radar was much more powerful than the one sported by the transport plane, so Juliet had no problems tracking the aggressor. "Athrun! Hurry up! It's making another pass." Juliet jelled through the AC's speakers. Her warning came a little too late.

Just like before, numerous holes appeared in the left side of the hull, filling the cargo hold with small metallic fragments and pieces of shrapnel. A fair amount of rounds whizzed past Athrun and ricocheted off the Aegis's armor. He nearly released the cable that time. In fact, he actually did lose his grip. Fortunately, he managed to grab onto the edge of the cockpit and avoid falling down. Hanging awkwardly, with his foot in the stirrup, holding onto the edge of the cockpit with one hand and a heavy duffel bag in the other Athrun found it increasingly hard to hold on. Eventually he managed to throw the bag into the cockpit, shake his foot out of the stirrup and then use both his hands to pull himself into the cockpit. It was about time.

Athrun was barely inside, when the plane entered a climb. At the same moment, the hatch started to open. Once the hatch was open far enough, Juliet immediately hurtled her AC out. Athrun soon followed. Though his exit was more like an uncoordinated fall than an actual jump. He was still in the middle of activating the Aegis when his Gundam left the airplane. Strapping himself in with one arm and working on the controls with his other, he tried as best as he could to maneuver the Aegis into a more controlled fall.

With boosters flaring and the altimeter rapidly racing from four to one digit, Juliet decided to do a bit more than merely fall to the ground. Rolling the Romeo with the back towards the ground, she searched for the fighter. She didn't have to wait for long. The Skygrasper shot out of the clouds and went right at them. Juliet had to admit, whoever the pilot was, the guy had balls. Engaging a AC and a Gundam while flying a damaged fighter plane wasn't the thing most pilots would do. Hell, it was something Juliet herself wouldn't even consider doing. Yet there it was, leaving the damaged transport plane behind and shooting towards them like a hawk going after its prey.

Unfortunately there was some truth to it. Romeo was never designed for flying. No AC was. A brief flight? Sure. But an actual dogfight? No. Completely out of the question. Juliet needed all the available energy to break down the fall and find a spot to land. Aegis's situation was even worse. It was barely capable of remaining airborne. Plus Athrun was still fighting the onslaught of G forces as the Mobile Suit spun and twisted through the air during its plummet.

With her airspeed already decreasing, Juliet moved out of the Aegis's way, allowing the red Mobile Suit to pass her. Now the way was free. The Romeo aimed the 88mm carbine and fired off a few rounds. None of which came close to hitting the target. The Skygrasper returned fire and Juliet growled in anger when she heard small explosions going off across the Romeo's body. Though the attack had hit home, it didn't even leave a mark. The armor was too tough for the munitions to even scratch.

Juliet was about to fire again, but it was too late. The Skygrasper and the Romeo converged and there was no time for her to get a solid lock as the fighter shot past her AC and headed towards the Aegis. However, Juliet was having none of that. Extending the Romeo's right hand, and carefully tapping the boosters on the same side, she managed to turn the AC around, so that it faced the ground. With no time to take a proper aim with the carbine, Juliet used the laser carbine instead. The 25mm laser beam lanced across the skies and, with a swift adjustment, cut right into the Skygrasper's fuselage.

The contact was very brief, a fraction of a second at the most, but in that time the aircraft was almost cut in half lengthwise. The beam burned its way into the space between its two tails and would have reached the cockpit if the Romeo's aim had not veered off, destroying the beam turret in the process.

With a thick, black trail of smoke behind it, the Skygrasper trembled once, twice and then, almost lazily, drifted away from its intended path, joining the trio of falling machines in their journey towards the ocean below. The fighter didn't remain with them for long; it soon made a wide turn and disappeared from their sight. Juliet and Athrun had a lot bigger problems to watch out for.

"Okay, I got rid of that bastard. What now?" The Romeo took its position near the Aegis, as both pilots started using their propulsion systems to break the fall and searched for a place to land.

"Good job." Athrun's voice came back slightly exhausted and nervous. He had only recently managed to get the Aegis fully under control. "I guess we need to find a place to land." He quickly scanned the ocean and picked out the target. "We'll land on that big island over there. Follow me."

"Got it." Juliet replied and fell in line next to Athrun's Mobile Suit. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" She muttered to herself.

xxxxx

"Great, just fucking great!" Juliet saw a small rock lying in the sand and vented her irritation by kicking it into the ocean. Then she turned her attention on Athrun. "What do we do now?"

Athrun slung his uniform jacket over the shoulder and ran his hand through his hair. "First, we assess the situation. We're on a deserted island, completely alone, and no contact with allied forces. I'm certain they'll start looking for us eventually, but how long it will take for them to find us is a different matter. So it looks like we're here to stay for a while." He reached down to pick up his survival kit. A good move as it soon turned out. He stood up and turned around in order to start searching for shelter, when he spotted another person standing on a nearby ridge. They were not alone.

"Don't move!" A loud yell split the air, followed by several gunshots soon after. Juliet and Athrun reacted quickly and both dived behind a large, nearby rock for cover.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Juliet exclaimed while crouched on one knee. Her hand slipped inside her jacket and she pulled out a gun from a shoulder holster, concealed under her left arm. A handgun with an extended magazine holding fifteen .45 caliber bullets. "You said this was a deserted island."

Athrun risked a quick glance at his bag lying in the sand. "It is a deserted island. It's just that we're not alone." He wished he had taken his sidearm from it. He was forced to duck when the unknown attacker fired again. "Hmm, looks like an Alliance soldier."

"Probably the pilot of that fighter I shot down." Juliet offered her version. She popped out from behind the cover and forced the attacker to seek cover with several shots of her own. "Almost got the bastard. He hid behind the rocks over there. Got a plan?"

"Almost." Athrun studied the ridge above them. "Think you can keep his head down a little longer?" He was fairly certain he could make it to the top quickly enough. The ridge wasn't that high and there were several gaps and protruding rocks for him to use as support.

"What's on your mind?"

"You cover me while I climb to the top of the ridge. I'll try to go around and flank him."

Juliet arched her eyebrow. "And then what? You don't have a gun." Her frown disappeared when Athrun reached into his boot and pulled out a wicked, curved knife. "Oh, okay." She moved out of cover and emptied the entire magazine. The bullets blasted pieces off the big rocks and shattered the smaller ones, and generally prevented the Alliance soldier from sticking out his head. Behind her, Juliet heard Athrun scuttle up the slope, as he tried to reach the top as quickly as possible.

Dropping behind cover again, Juliet took out a spare magazine from the right side of the holster and reloaded the pistol. "Better hurry up Athrun. I got only two mags left." As soon as she was done, Juliet moved to the far side of the rock in order to fire from a different position. Unfortunately, her opponent had predicted her move and opened fire at the same time Juliet tried to take an aim. The bullet struck the rock and missed her, but the cloud of dust and shrapnel didn't. "Aghh. Fuck!" She cursed when tiny pieces of rock flew into her eyes and temporary blinded her. She tried to rub them out, but it didn't work, she couldn't see anything. Hell, she couldn't even open her eyes.

She was still trying to clear her eyes, when she heard a curse, a pair of gunshots, a distant thud and finally, a blood curling shriek. Afterwards, the only sounds were those from the waves splashing against the beach. "Athrun?" With her eyes still watering and narrowed into tiny slits, Juliet risked to take a look.

Athrun's gambit had paid off. He had managed to circle around unnoticed and had jumped the attacker when the soldier had tried to rush Juliet's position. Right now he was pinning the soldier to the ground with his knee, and his knife arm was raised high into the air, ready for the killing blow. Only Athrun was hesitating for some reason. He was completely motionless and stared at the defeated enemy with a stunned look on his face.

"Athrun, what are you waiting for, finish the bastard and be done with it." Juliet was still wiping her eyes.

"Her."

"What?"

"She's a girl." Athrun looked at Juliet and explained in a slightly surprised voice. "Didn't you hear the scream? I've never heard a scream like that." Juliet noticed the girl's cheeks blush in embarrassment.

"Whatever, doesn't matter. We're better off killing her; she's our enemy after all." Juliet shrugged and picked up the girl's handgun.

The girl glared at her and started wiggling in an attempt to break free. "Enough is enough! Let me go!" She demanded in a fierce voice.

"Hey. Shut the hell up. We decide whether to kill you or not."

"We're not killing her, Juliet, she's harmless anyway." Athrun lowered the knife and sighed. "Pass me the survival kit, there's a rope in there. We'll tie her up. Just in case."

Juliet could not believe her ears. "What! No! She's the one that almost shot us down. We're stuck here because of her." Juliet protested and pointed her gun at the girl's head. Just one pull and the girl's head would be all over the beach.

"Listen. She's in the same situation as we are and there's two of us, so there's nothing she can do to us. Furthermore, if we kill her, we're going to have to bury her, and I don't want to dig a hole in this heat. Besides, it's wrong to kill a helpless prisoner." Athrun explained, while doing his best to keep the captive from breaking free. "Now, please, pass me the rope."

xxxxx

The doors to the Archangel's bridge hissed open, allowing entry to one of ship's pilots. "Why aren't we moving? More enemies might be coming our way." Jack asked Murrue. The Captain glared at him, but it failed to leave any effect on the mercenary.

"I'm not leaving Cagalli behind. Especially when she might be looking for us."

Natarle sighed, asking for more patience and tried to reason with Murrue. "Captain, we can't spend any time looking for her. Like Jack said, we could get attacked any moment now." It was exactly the thing that worried her. Murrue was letting her emotions control her. "The area is too big. Even with Kira out there, it will take us hours, perhaps even days to search every island in the area. We can't remain here."

"Yeah, I'm with her on this one." Jack crossed his arms and nodded towards Natarle. "I suggest we leave Cagalli's ass out here, cut our losses and get lost."

Murrue exhaled sharply, but revealed no other signs of how she felt. When she spoke, her voice was clear and determined. "We will stay here until morning. That is an order." She cut off Natarle who was about to protest. "If we haven't found her by then, we will resume our course."

Natarle accepted her order, though the gritted teeth and the sharp look showed Murrue exactly what she was thinking about Murrue's decision. However, Jack wasn't so easily subdued. "Why the hell do we have to hang around for one, stupid girl? She's gone, dead probably, there's no reason to look for her."

"Jack. You will be heading out as well. If you work with Kira, you two will be able to search the area much faster."

"Like hell I am. My mission is to make sure the Pulverizer reaches Alaska. Not participate in search parties."

"Your contract states that you're under my command during your time on the Archangel." Murrue's smile was narrow and sent chills down Jack's spine. "Therefore I can order you to do pretty much everything I want."

Jack sagged almost visibly. A defeated look crossed his eyes. "Uhh, so you read the entire contract? … Damn … Very well, my Captain. You won." He admitted Murrue's victory and left the bridge. It looked like a long night ahead.

xxxxx

Cagalli had never felt so humiliated in her life. The way her captors treated her was enough to make her consider whether getting shot was really that bad. Having her legs and hands tied up was one thing. But what really ticked her off was the fact that those two left her to lie in the sand afterwards. Discarded like a useless piece of paper. Not only that, but right now she was crawling like a worm up a small hill. Despite having mouth full of sand and mud on her clothes, she continued her path. She had to see what they were doing.

Once she reached the top, Cagalli was able to get a look at what was going on. The guy, whose name apparently was Athrun, was inside the Aegis. She saw the Gundam reach out with the left arm and fire something out of its forearm. It wasn't a missile and it wasn't cannon shell either. The projectile flew in a wide, ballistic arc and eventually landed in the water. Probably some sort of a beacon.

The girl, Juliet, was carrying a stack of twigs and wood into a nearby cave. Apparently their decision was to set up a camp and wait for the rescue to arrive. A good idea. One look at the skies and it was clear that staying outside was a bad idea. The dark clouds and the steadily increasing winds were a clear sign that the night was going to be a very uncomfortable one.

Cagalli slowly tried to get up on her feet, since lying in sand wasn't what she preferred. It was less humiliating and it also offered a greater view. It was a difficult task to achieve with hands tied behind her back. Despite the limited movements available to her and the impeded balance, Cagalli managed to stand up. A small victory for her. A very short lived victory as it turned out. A sudden gust of wind ruined her balance and send her tumbling down the hill. After hitting several nasty bumps, she landed in the middle of a nearby stream. "Great, just my luck. What else can go wrong today?" Cagalli stared at the skies, while lying in the water.

She got her answer soon enough. Small drops of rain started falling around and on her. The increasing sound of numerous splashes eventually overwhelmed the rustle of the ocean and joined together in a continuous natural symphony, that was actually very enjoyable. Cagalli felt the drops pelting her face, washing away all the mud, and smiled. It was a nice feeling, no matter the situation she was currently in.

Her enjoyment was interrupted when the Aegis's shield moved into view. Acting like an improvised umbrella, the plate of armor stopped the gentle touch of raindrops. A few seconds later she heard footsteps heading towards her and, soon after, Athrun's face drifted into her view, as he peered at her. "What are you doing?" He asked, slightly confused.

"What does it look like?" Cagalli retorted. She tried to sit up, but realized that the rope, which bound her hands, had snagged between the rocks at the bottom of the stream. "What the…" Cagalli tried again, but to no avail. She lacked the leverage and strength to do it alone. Furthermore, a sudden wave splashed in her face as the stream started to rise. Her attempts of freeing herself grew more desperate as panic set in. "Don't just stand there! Help me!" Cagalli demanded when she realized that Athrun hadn't moved a bit.

"I don't think you're in position to be talking like that." The calm tone in Athrun's voice didn't help at all. In fact, it seriously pissed her off. How could he be so calm when she was practically drowning?

Cagalli jerked the rope again. "Help me already!"

This time Athrun listened. He reached down and pulled her up by her shoulders. "There. Satisfied?" Cagalli didn't reply. She just glared at him for a moment. Then she stood up and jumped out from under the shield in order to stand in the rain. "What are you doing? It's raining."

"I'm covered in sand. So I might as well use this chance to wash myself." Cagalli replied while rain poured on her, washing away the itchy feeling sand created. She shook her head, in order to get rid of whatever was caught in her hair and smiled. It felt so good. The smile disappeared when Cagalli felt the rope being cut, freeing her hands and feet.

"There's no reason to keep you tied up." Athrun explained when he met Cagalli's confused look. "And it's not like you can do anything either." He finished, before walking off in the cave's direction.

Cagalli, feeling offended by the comment, followed him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Athrun replied without breaking his pace. Cagalli considered demanding a better answer, but eventually decided against it. There was no reason to argue with him. He had released her after all and he was being friendly to her. No, there was no reason to pick a fight. For now.

When Athrun reached the cave, he was instantly presented with a new problem. Juliet, tasked with gathering firewood and igniting a campfire, so that they could stay warm during the night, had only managed to accomplish half of the task. A small, chaotic stack, with randomly arranged twigs, was built in the middle of the cave. The architect was sitting on the ground nearby, with dozens of broken matches scattered around her. "Athrun. I think these are broken. They don't work." Juliet raised her head, when she heard Athrun approach.

"Let me guess, you've never done this before?" Athrun sighed and took over. He rearranged the pile, separated the wet pieces from the dry ones and lit up the small pile. Within minutes, the cave was filled with the pleasant warmth and light of a campfire.

Juliet stared at Athrun's result and frowned. "Oh, so this is how it works." She spotted Cagalli and noticed the lack of restraints. "Hey, why is she untied? Where's the rope?"

"Calm down, Juliet. I don't think she'll attack us and there is no place for her to run." Athrun replied, while rummaging through the survival kit. He pulled out several rations, a few cups and a thermal blanket. "You..."

"Cagalli." Cagalli provided her name, while suppressing a shiver. It was getting cold and her wet clothes only made it worse.

Juliet noticed the state Cagalli was in and grinned. "Why are you all wet? Did Athrun try to drown you?" Her smirk grew even wider when Cagalli didn't bother to reply.

"She fell in a stream and almost drowned." Athrun explained patiently. "Now, Cagalli. I suggest you … umm, take off those clothes and put them near the fire to dry. In the mean time you can use this to stay warm." He offered her the blanket.

Cagalli looked at the blanked, then at him. "You want me to do what? Forget it; I'm not taking off my clothes so that you can stare at me."

"That's not what I meant. If you stay in those clothes, you'll suffer from hypothermia and probably get sick. Trust me, you don't want that … Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll go outside."

"I said no … besides, just because you're gone doesn't mean I'm comfortable with her being around." Cagalli's eyes shifted towards Juliet, who was busy poking the fire with a stick. The black haired girl felt Cagalli looking at her and looked up.

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere. It's nice and warm over here and besides, I'm a girl too. Unless you're hiding something strange under those clothes, I feel perfectly fine."

Cagalli gritted her teeth, fighting both the desire for warmth and the embarrassment of having to strip in front of complete strangers. Finally, a particularly strong shiver made up her mind. "Fine. I'll do it. Now, go outside." She snapped at Athrun and watched him go. Only when he was out of sight did she start removing her clothes. She was fortunate. Her undergarments were practically dry, there was light dampness in few spots, but it was nothing major, so she left them on. Cagalli quickly arranged her clothes, so that they would dry as quickly as possible and pulled the thermal blanket around her shoulders.

"She's done. You can come back now." Juliet said when Cagalli sat down near the campfire. "There, that wasn't so hard. Was it?"

"I'd like to see you taking off your clothes in front of someone you don't know." Cagalli retorted angrily. Juliet merely shrugged her shoulders and smiled, ignoring the reply.

xxxxx

"You're one of those people who were at Heliopolis." Cagalli stated. More than an hour had passed since she got out of her clothes, an hour of her sitting there and doing pretty much nothing at all. Other than thinking about the day's events and everything related to them. "I was there too when you guys destroyed it."

"It wasn't our intention of destroying it. We had no idea it was going to turn out like that. If everything went like we wanted, we would have captured the Mobile Suits without any trouble." Athrun replied from where he was lying on one side on the opposite side of the cave, his head propped up by his hand. Juliet was sitting in between them, with her legs pulled up in front of her and her head resting on her knees, as she silently stared into the fire, her eyes slowly drifting towards sleep.

"It doesn't matter what you say. It's a fact that the colony got destroyed because you attacked it."

"And what we were supposed to do?" Athrun retorted fiercely. "Orb was developing Mobile Suits on a supposedly neutral colony. It's not something we can simply ignore … We're fighting to protect PLANTs."

"Same thing goes for Earth. You invaded us and killed many people with your N-jammers." They both stared at each other, neither one willing to back down.

"My mother was on Junius Seven." Athrun said quietly. "It was a simple agricultural colony. Yet the Alliance destroyed it, killing all of its inhabitants. Everyone, even children. Do you expect me to do nothing after something like that!"

"A lot of my friends died as well. All because of ZAFT's attacks."

"Forget it." Athrun eventually admitted. There was no sense in continuing this topic. "It's useless to talk with you about this now." He fell silent and resorted to watching the campfire.

Cagalli maintained her look at him, but when Athrun made no further reactions, she got up and slowly walked outside. Neither Athrun or Juliet tried to stop him. She walked until she reached the edge of the light, emitted by the campfire behind her, and stared out in the darkness. Her eyes fell on two, huge silhouettes nearby, their features made unclear by the darkness engulfing them, but Cagalli easily identified them. The Romeo and the Aegis. The white AC captivated her attention only for a moment; it was the Aegis she couldn't look away from. The Gundam, which was built by Orb, stood there completely motionless and seemed to be staring back at her.

Did Orb do the right thing by building it? Was it worth the destruction of Heliopolis? No. She knew the answer to that one. No Gundam, no matter how powerful and for what purpose it was built, wasn't worth the destruction of a colony. ZAFT was wrong when they attacked it. Why couldn't they leave Heliopolis alone? Attacking it was wrong. Right? _Then again, Athrun was right. It is not something ZAFT can afford to ignore._ Cagalli recalled Athrun's words. ZAFT had to do something about it. They couldn't allow Earth Alliance to get their hands on Mobile Suits. If that's the case, then it was ZAFT who was right. If the Alliance got Mobile Suits of their own, it would mean the end to the stalemate and ZAFT would eventually be defeated. If so, who was supposed to be right? EA for asking Orb to build Mobile Suits in order to end the war? Orb, for building them as a joint project and breaking their ideals? ZAFT for attacking Heliopolis in an attempt to prevent the tide from turning against them? Who? Who was right? Cagalli pursed her lips when a clear and definite answer escaped her. She stood there for several minutes, her mind almost on the other side of the world. She shook her head. It was impossible to figure it out. Each side had their own reasons. Each side was right.

Tired and exhausted by the heavy thoughts, she turned around and returned to the cave. To her surprise Athrun had fallen asleep. Obviously it had happened unconsciously, since the position he was in, lying on one side with his head propped up, looked very uncomfortable to keep for prolonged periods of time. She shook her head in mild wonder, he certainly was very sure of himself, falling asleep just like that, while his captive was roaming around.

She walked over to the campfire and threw a few pieces of wood into it, in order to prevent it from burning out, the fresh pieces crackled once they were consumed by flames. Cagalli was just about to return to her place near the fire, when her eyes fell on the gun at Athrun's side. Cagalli quietly stalked towards Athrun and slowly reached out for the gun.

"Don't." Juliet's voice caused her to stop. She was staring at Cagalli, her golden-yellow eyes deadly serious. At the same time, her hand sneaked inside the jacket where she kept her gun.

Cagalli slowly closed her fist and lowered her arm. Truth be told she had no idea why she was trying to get the gun in the first place. It wasn't like she felt threatened, despite being a captive. It must have been a spur of the moment, the desire to be completely in charge. Still, she couldn't let Juliet walk all over her without a challenge. "And what will you do if I try to take the gun?"

"I'll shoot you." The answer was clear and simple.

Cagalli looked at Juliet challengingly. "I don't think so. From what I've seen, Athrun is in charge and he won't let you kill me."

Juliet laughed at her words and stared back with the same look Cagalli had directed at her. "First of all, no one has ever been in charge of me. Second, I'm a Raven, I can do whatever my contract doesn't forbid. So go ahead, try your luck." She pulled out her gun and started lightly tapping the side of the muzzle against her temple, while maintaining the gaze at Cagalli.

"Fine." Cagalli returned back to her spot. "You know, you're just like that bastard Jack, thinking you're some hot shit, when you're obviously nothing more than a bunch of punks."

Juliet tilted her head and grinned. "It might look like to you, but there are a lot of us. And some of us, like Jack, are nothing but a bunch of seriously messed up bastards. Fortunately for you, I'm one of the decent ones. I have my own rules to follow."

"Rules that obviously don't tell you to top waving that gun around. Yeah, there's a world of difference between you and Jack." Cagalli snorted in contempt. A mistake, as it soon turned out, since she suddenly found herself staring at the muzzle of Juliet's gun.

"Hey don't put me on the same scale as that immoral, opportunistic, egocentric, selfish bastard who has absolutely no sense of conscience and loyalty." Juliet threatened with a cold look in her eyes.

Cagalli didn't say anything for a while, waiting for the anger to diminish. "Sounds like you know him."

"Of course I know him. All Ravens know each other, to some degree. I mean, it is impossible not to, when you're fighting against or with someone for several times."

Cagalli was glad to hear the anger in Juliet's voice fading, as she spoke. Apparently she was a person who changed moods quickly. That or she was just tired, since Juliet finished her sentence with a wide yawn. "Judging from what you're saying, I guess you've fought him in the past."

"What do you care? It's none of your business." Juliet retorted, but there wasn't anger in her voice. She even lowered her gun, placing it on the ground next to her. "And I'd really appreciate if you stopped talking."

Cagalli narrowed her eyes at the unpleasant order Juliet had given her, but found no strength to voice her thoughts. In fact, she realized she was feeling kind of sleepy as well. She'd been up ever since morning and the hunt for that submarine carrier had really taken it out of her. Plus there was the recent events on the island to consider. All that, coupled with the warm feeling from the fire, the soft sand underneath and the silence around her, made up for a very relaxing atmosphere. Cagalli pulled the blanket around her tighter and leaned against the wall. She felt so good, it was almost as if she was back… Her train of thoughts suddenly broke, as her eyes fell close and her head sagged on her shoulder, while her consciousness drifted away towards sleep.

xxxxx

The communications device in Athrun's pocket beeped, causing his eyes to fly open as he was roused from the sleep. It was already morning, the sun was rising and he could hear several birds in the distance. He spared a quick look at the two girls he shared the cave with frowned in slight amazement. Both had fallen asleep in exactly the same places he remembered them. Cagalli was reclining against the wall of the cave, the blanked pulled up close around her, since she was till clad in nothing but her undergarments. Juliet was lying on her stomach, looking just like a cat, next to the still smoking campfire. What surprised Athrun was the gun next to Juliet's head. Obviously something had happened while he was asleep.

The beep sounded again, reminding him why he had been awakened. The beeps meant only one thing. The beacon he had launched last night was picking up an incoming transmission. Since there was nothing he could do from his current position, Athrun had to reach the Aegis and try to contact whoever was approaching them from there.

He ran out of the cave and crossed the ground between him and the Gundam in a few moments. Once inside the cockpit, he started working on the radio, trying to establish a clear contact. "Athrun … Athrun, are you there? Can you hear me?" Nicole's voice broke through the radio, sending a wave of relief washing through Athrun. They were saved.

"Nicole. I hear you. Where are you?"

"Athrun? What a relief. We're getting your location from the distress signal." Nicole's joy was almost tangible through the radio. "You're not far from our current location. Hold on. We'll be there soon."

"Hey, what's the commotion?" Juliet walked out of the cave, stretching her arms, as she tried to adjust her mind to the new day. "Got something on the radio?"

"Yeah. It's Nicole. They've located our beacon and are coming to rescue us." Athrun called back from the cockpit. Suddenly, he picked up a new signal. However, this one wasn't from the radio. It was the Aegis's radar. "What? New object … From the sea?"

"What's wrong?" Juliet studied the look on Athrun's face when he reached the ground a few minutes later.

Athrun looked past her at Cagalli, who had just finished getting dressed and suddenly everything fell into place. "I got more signals on the radar. They're approaching from the other side of the island. I think they're looking for you, Cagalli." The girl let out a relieved sigh, something that brought a smile on Athrun's lips. "Looks like your friends have arrived as well … Listen, I suggest you head back to your fighter and stay there. I and Juliet will hide our machines. If possible I'd like to avoid getting into a fight."

"I don't." Juliet perked up, an eager grin on her face.

"Juliet, please. Now is not the time. I'd like to get a decent rest and a shower before starting a fight. Besides, there's no reason to fight if we can avoid it."

Juliet held up her hands in defeat and shrugged. "Fine, fine. Whatever. Let's try it your way this time." Without looking at Cagalli, she walked off in the direction of her AC.

"Well, Cagalli, looks like we'll have to part ways. You probably won't believe it, but I enjoyed your company." He smiled.

Cagalli rolled her eyes, but eventually smiled as well. "If you take the whole tying up thing out if it … Thanks for everything, Athrun." She started moving towards the path that would lead her to the other side of the island.

Athrun, watched her leave, when a sudden thought occurred to him. "Hey." He shouted. "You're not an Alliance soldier, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not." Cagalli's reply made him smile even wider. Somehow it was a relief to know, that his girl wasn't part of the organization he was actively fighting against. She wasn't his enemy. Nonetheless, she was one, weird girl.

* * *

A/N - Hmm, for some reason the site is butchering my usual scene dividers, therefore I'm using the line of x's. I hope it doesn't bother you too much.


	24. Dark Side of PLANTs

A/N - Before I begin, there is something I'd like you to know. This is the first chapter where creations of another author enter the story. Lena and Leonard, and their ACs were suggested to me by Rickrolled. As for other suggestions, I ask you to be patient. They have been entered in The Book and what goes in The Book goes in the story.

* * *

The red Mobile Suit staggered, when a series of beam blasts forced its pilot to abort the charge and hide behind the shield. "C'mon Dom, make it worthwhile!" The pilot of the blue Strike Dagger laughed and fired several more shots, all of which were absorbed by the shield. Domenic jumped to the side, landing his red Strike Dagger on one knee, the move bought him one, maybe two seconds as his opponent miscalculated and sent the beams over his head.

Domenic paid it no attention and used the precious time to return fire. This time it was his enemy who was forced to take evasive action by raising the shield. Seeing his chance Domenic charged towards his opponent once again, firing the beam rifle as he closed in. His opponent tried to fire back, but the continuous fire from Domenic and the large shield of his Strike Dagger made it hard for him to get off a proper shot.

Once he was close enough Domenic dropped the beam rifle and pulled out the beam saber. Unfortunately his opponent had seen it coming. During the few seconds while the attacker was switching weapons, the blue Dagger lowered the shield and fired. The beam saber had just ignited when the arm holding it was struck by the green beams.

Instantly the right hand was shut down, as the computer simulated a disabled limb. The beams only made black scorch marks on the armor. While they were still lethal to humans, the beam rifles of both combatants were of very low intensity. The plasma inside them carried only enough charge and density to mimic the behavior of an actual combat level beam, a simple steel plate stopped them dead.

"Hah, looks like I disarmed you." The pilot of the blue Strike Dagger laughed at his silly joke and fired again. His laughs died down when the damaged Mobile Suit dodged to the side and whirled, the heavy shield coming around in a heavy blow to his own, that sent him staggering.

Almost immediately a loud voice thundered across the open field. "Red pilot, this testing exercise does not allow such maneuvers; please use the intended weapons of… STOP IMMEDIATELY!" The voice yelled when the red Dagger, paying no attention to the reprimand, attacked again. This time the shield made contact with the side of the still recovering Mobile Suit's head. Not designed to take such heavy blows, the vital part was torn off the neck assembly and came apart shortly after in a welter of destroyed optical sensors, pieces of armor, hydraulic fluids and cables.

"Terminate the exercise, terminate the exercise! Both pilots report to the control center! Dispatch damage control teams!" The speakers spat orders, just as the headless Strike Dagger fell on the ground. Domenic, after realizing the exercise was over, lowered the shield from where it had been raised to deal another blow, this time to the right hand, and slowly walked over to the side of the field where several buildings and observation posts were located. Sure, the fight was over, but he clearly understood one thing. A new era had begun. Earth Alliance finally had Mobile Suits.

xxxxx

"Well, that was interesting. They look line fine beasts. Definitely better than some Muscle Tracers we have." Garon observed the results of the exercise from his place in the observation center. "Too bad they stopped the fight just when it became interesting."

Viktor, standing next to him, merely shrugged. "I don't deny that, but apparently the engineers aren't exactly happy about the outcome. Though I have no idea as to why."

"The purpose of this exercise was to test the weapon capabilities and performance." A tired voice said from behind them. It belonged to one of the scientists in charge of the Strike Dagger project, Luis Valendi. The scientist ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. Now we won't be able to continue our tests and exercises until we repair that machine or get a replacement."

Garon looked back at the man and rolled his eyes. "If this was supposed to be a combat exercise there was nothing wrong with it. On the contrary, that move with the shield was a very clever move. Most people forget that shields can be used on the offense as well."

"I know." Luis replied slightly annoyed. "What I meant is that this problem makes things a lot more problematic. The development of a Natural compatible operating system already put us way past deadline. Having one of the Mobile Suits damaged during exercise will prolong tests even more. My superiors are demanding to start mass production in a week. All tests and the necessary adjustments must be completed by then." He explained, his voice breaking up into series of coughs at the end. Result of a life of intense smoking habit.

Garon waited for the man to stop coughing before he offered his own advice. "You know, you could have just asked us to supply you with our muscle tracing technology, I'm sure we could have worked out a deal." He glanced in Victor's direction, but the Colonel shook his head.

"You know very well we already have access to your control technology."

"Yes, but it is a second generation technology, it requires the use of a special harness." Garon countered; despite the sour taste in his mouth Viktor's words had left. He hated when he was being told that he was almost useless. "I'm offering you access to the third generation muscle tracing systems. The elastic needle inserts are more comfortable and less restricting."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but there is something I wanted to ask." Luis suddenly intervened; his fingers flying across the keyboard of a nearby computer, calling up various reports. "I've done some research on the information we obtained from the Pulverizers and there is something I unable to figure out." He paused and placed the reports of the Pulverizer's control system on a large, wall mounted monitor. "Your level of technology has clearly advanced past the point where complex operating systems, such as the one used in Strike Daggers, can be made, yet there is absolutely no evidence of such programs being used."

Garon scanned the reports and considered his answer. Part of him wanted to keep the secret, but he decided otherwise. It was only a matter of time before everyone found out about it. "The reason we didn't use advanced control operating systems was because of their vulnerability to outside influence. Layered had a very developed computer network. It was impossible to find a corner where you couldn't be contacted or located. This accessibility also made computer-warfare a very dangerous threat."

"With proper amplification, especially one the Controller had, a control program could be wirelessly uploaded to any Muscle Tracer in Layered. The programs were of various sorts. Some merely disabled sensors; others triggered the self destruct systems. However, the most dangerous ones were the programs used by the Controller. That AI could simply take control of a Muscle Tracer by uploading a simplified artificial intelligence program to take over the operating system. When we realized it, we started developing very crude and simple operating systems, ones that were missing several key factors to allow an AI to take control."

"Fascinating." Luis breathed. Garon couldn't help but smile as well. The change from sophisticated programs to simple ones was the best way of denying vulnerable machines to the Controller.

"However, without these parts, there was no way to control a Muscle Tracer efficiently. Fortunately we discovered that these required parts were already part of us. They are inside every living being. Now I don't know the exact terms and specifications, but I guess I can tell you the basics of how a MT system works … You see, the missing parts can be replaced with neural impulses. These are the impulses your brains send to your muscles whenever you make any movement or action."

"The MT system works by combining two types of commands What and How. The first type of command comes from the controls in the cockpit. By moving the controls, you order the machine what to move. However, the computer system can only move it at previously programmed settings, which are always crude and very basic. This is where the second part comes in. Whenever you make a movement, your spinal cord sends a signal to the appropriate muscles. Furthermore, there is a slight difference between the types of signals when you want to move, for example, you arm quickly or slowly. Even if you are moving nothing other than controls, pilots subconsciously move them the way they want the respective limb to move. … The MT system intercepts and analyzes these signals and finds out how exactly you want to move the machine's arm. Then, combining it with the command from the controls, it tells the computer what action to perform and how to perform it."

Luis ran his hand through the hair again and gasped in amazement. "Incredible. You removed the most critical part of a control system and replaced it with the neural signals emitted by our brains? Wow. I am impressed!" He put down several notes on the computer, while muttering to himself, already considering the possibilities.

Meanwhile Viktor shared a similar feeling. Garon's explanation of the control system had sent several thoughts in motion. "Your explanation was very interesting, Garon. It even made me consider things I wasn't even talking about. Your control systems are very unique and, truth be told, interesting as well. I think it would be for the best if we explored this avenue as well."

Not quite following Viktor's train of thought, Garon frowned and crossed his arms. "What are you talking about?" Viktor saw the suspicious expression and smiled.

"Do not be concerned. I merely want to find out how your control systems compare to ours. Perhaps we could arrange a special exercise to find that out."

"I see. Unfortunately, we don't have any machines of comparable level to put against your Daggers. An Enforcer MT would be ripped apart, whereas any of the Ravens would do the same to your Mobile Suits."

"Do not worry. I think I'll be able to spare a part of Daggers for you to adapt to your systems. Yes, I know about the deadline." He cut Luis off, before the scientist could voice his concerns. "Don't be alarmed. I'll pull some strings and make sure you get a few more days added. Furthermore, when they hear the offer, I'm certain the High Command will even be willing to spare a few more dollars for the project."

Luis sighed as if the weight of the world had been removed from his shoulders. "Thank you. It will be appreciated … In that case I think we will be able to send two or three Mobile Suits to Bastion. I think I'll be able to send a team of our specialists to help you out as well."

"That won't be necessary, mister Valendi." Garon shook his head. "Crest has its own specialist who is just itching to get her hands on some Earth technology. Besides, to her, your specialists would be more hindrance than help."

At this same moment, the doors to the command center flew open, granting entrance to Domenic. The Major was still clad in the orange flight suit and seemed to be royally pissed off, apparently by the lecture he had no doubt received, but he also looked to have something very important to say. "What is it, Domenic?" Viktor prepared himself an entire tirade about the need to replace all and every scientist on this base in case his prediction about Domenic's arrival was wrong.

Fortunately, complaining about the personnel wasn't on Domenic's mind. He located the older man and quickly walked over to him, leaning close and speaking in a hushed voice, so that no one would overhear. "I just got news from home regarding our little problem." He didn't say more, he didn't have to. Viktor instantly understood what he meant by that and gave him a significant glance. There was no need for words; Domenic knew it as well as he did, that this wasn't a safe place to talk. The Major simply stood up, his hand behind his back and waited for Viktor to act.

Viktor looked back at Luis and Garon, who were giving him questioning looks. "Please excuse me for a while. There are some things I have to take care of." He said and started walking out the room, with Domenic right behind him, before anyone could ask for more details.

"Okay, it's safe here. What's the news?" Viktor asked once they were in the office allocated to him during his stay on the testing facility.

Domenic unclasped the collar of his flight suit and jerked it slightly in order to get some fresh air between him and the suit. He still hadn't gotten used to wearing it, but he paid it no heed. The last few days had been a nightmare. Learning how to pilot a Mobile Suit was no easy task. But he persevered, his thirst for a chance to get back at the Coordinators for what they had done to him, was one hell of a motivator.

He took one of the chairs, carried it over to the window and sat down, sparing a few seconds to open the window so that a fresh breeze washed over him once in a while. He felt Viktor's intense gaze on him and decided he'd better answer the question. "I got news from the Bastion. As I said it is about our spy problem. Our guys have been working with the two ZAMI agents we captured some time ago and apparently they made some progress."

Viktor didn't bother to ask how this progress had been achieved. It was quite obvious. "So, what did they find out?"

"First of all, those guys weren't trying to infiltrate our base in order to spy on us. It's much worse. They tried to establish contact with ZAMI agents already inside. We don't know who they were supposed to meet and neither do they, but we know ZAMI has been getting information from us."

"Damn it! Do we know how much info has been leaked?" Viktor sighed and leaned against the desk, while slowly running his palm over his face.

"Yes actually. Our guys managed to locate their safehouse not far from the base and there were quite a lot of clues about what they were looking for." Domenic paused. "They weren't looking for the Pulverizers. They were looking for something else. Sir, ZAFT knows about our BCPU project." Silence reigned in the room as Viktor analyzed what he had just heard.

"How much?"

Domenic winced and shifted uncomfortably. He disliked being the bearer of bad news, but this had to be done. "Practically everything. The training program, enhancement operations, specialized Mobile Suit development, everything. Except that three of them will soon be ready for deployment. They know enough to launch their own project." He quietly waited for the blowout. Though he had heard about the unfortunate scientist's fate, he wasn't really afraid. This wasn't his fault and Viktor never vented his anger out on those who didn't deserve it.

Much to Domenic's relief, the blowout didn't happen. Mostly because Viktor was sober, something that shifted his mind in a more productive direction. "This doesn't look good. If ZAFT and therefore – PLANTs know about the project, they can create a lot of trouble for us, if they decide to let the entire world find out about it."

"What's so bad about that? Sure, we're training a bunch of super soldiers, but they are for the use against Coordinators and I don't think that would upset people whose support matters to us."

"True, however, they will be more than upset if they find out where we are getting the specimens from. Kidnapping our own children from the streets and orphanages doesn't sit well with a lot of people." Viktor explained. Personally he found it distasteful as well, but orders were orders.

Domenic shifted to a more comfortable pose and tilted his head. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Well, obviously, I have to return to Bastion and fix this mess." He sighed. All things pointed to a veritable inquisition among the base's personnel. Getting rid of spies didn't stop with the discovering of their identities. It was, at best, only half of the work. The entire base's computer system would need to be searched for any programmed leaks, connections to questionable locations, hidden observation programs and more. The base's personnel would need to be questioned and checked for trustworthiness in order to root out any willing cooperators and people who had no idea they were reporting to an enemy agent. The future looked bleak. The investigation would likely cripple all his plans, not to mention deal a serious blow to the various projects. "Azrael will not like this; he's been demanding updates on his BCPU project for weeks now. But when he finds out that instead of progress we have an information leak he'll probably blow a fuse."

Domenic shrugged indifferently. "Somehow I'm not concerned about it happening. I never liked the guy, anyway. Spends too much time in meetings and fancy dinners."

"Which are a necessity if Blue Cosmos wants to expand its influence and power." Viktor immediately countered. "Even with the death of Admiral Halberton there are plenty of people who are against us. If we are to crush them, we will need as many people under our banner as possible. Besides, Domenic, not everyone must be a soldier in order to accomplish something for Blue Cosmos. We need politicians."

"Yes, if Blue Cosmos's agenda was purely political. However, it is not. We are at war with a dangerous enemy; therefore Blue Cosmos needs a soldier to lead it, not a politician. I think you should be the one…"

"Dismiss such thoughts immediately, Major!" Viktor used the rank as a warning sign. "What you're saying is well within the territory of treason. As a member of Blue Cosmos, you must be loyal to the current lord. Whoever he is. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir. I understand." Domenic realized how close he was to the line. Furthermore, when Viktor used the rank, it was the last warning to either run or do as you were told.

Viktor stared at him for several moments until he was certain the man had done as he was told. "Good." His features relaxed slightly, but the look in his eyes was still the same. "Now, I'll be returning to Bastion to take care of the spies. I don't know how long it will take me to deal with it, but I am certain it will take at least three or four days, if I'm lucky. During that time, the Bastion will be in lockdown in order to prevent anyone from leaving. Unfortunately, that will also limit the amount of people allowed to enter the base, which means that Crest employees won't be able to come and go as they please."

"Shit, Garon won't like it."

"You can explain the situation to him, but don't go in any details; I don't want him to find out about our BCPU project just yet. In the mean time, try to get him involved in our Mobile Suit development. His knowledge might help us in the long run."

Domenic nodded, but then his mind caught up to what he had just heard. "Involve him in the project? Why? The Mobile Suits are already about to enter production. Why do we need him?"

"Simple, when we deploy the Dagger, ZAFT will no doubt try to come up with something to counter it. If it comes to the worst and they manage to do it before the war is over, we'll need options for upgrading the Daggers to deal with any future threats. This is where Crest comes in. Their knowledge might give us the edge needed to counter any ZAFT future designs."

"So, we're relying on them to build weapons for us?" Domenic frowned, his nationalistic side feeling offended by such an idea. "I have to say, I find the idea distasteful."

Viktor actually smiled. He knew this side of Domenic very well. It was the very same reason why he could always depend on Domenic. As a veritable ultranationalist, Domenic's loyalty and dedication to the Atlantic Federation was unquestionable. "I know, my friend. But it does not matter from where the weapon comes. All that matters is who uses it and for what cause."

"If you say so. Anyway, if you are heading to Bastion, I don't think it'd be best if I went as well. Searching for spies ain't my cup of tea." Domenic got up and slowly walked over to the exit. "I think it will be for the best if I stay here and help them out with the testing, and make full use of the invitation they gave me. Besides, kicking Logan's ass is fun."

Viktor watched the younger man go. "You really like Mobile Suits that much? You do realize once we start pumping out our own machines, the casualty lists will expand with horrendous speed." Domenic stopped right in front of the doors. He didn't say anything and he didn't move. It was obvious he was considering his answer. Viktor saw his shoulders sag, just slightly and his right hand moving up to touch a spot on his chest.

A second later, Domenic stood tall and straight again. He didn't look back at the Colonel, but when he spoke; his voice was filled with grim determination. "I know. But I feel it is in my blood to do this. I think my destiny is tied with these machines … I was killed by one … Now it's my turn to use it to return the favor." He said and left.

xxxxx

Usually when a person was watching TV, they tended to slowly shift into a more comfortable position usually ending up sprawled across the couch. Especially when the said couch was wide, soft and very comfortable. However, Lacus didn't allow the temptation to get the better of her and refused to lie down, despite the fact that she had been sitting in the practically same position for almost an hour. It was inappropriate, even in her home. Although, truth be told, she realized she was slowly losing the fight. She already had pulled her legs up in the couch, while reclining against the large pile of pillows at one corner of the couch. She sighed and promised herself that this would be as far as she would go, then Lacus turned her attention back on the reason why she was in this situation in the first place.

The large, wall mounted TV showed the last thing people expected a teenage girl to be watching. An interview with one of the PLANT's politicians. As a daughter of a PLANT Supreme Chairman, Lacus was familiar with politics not only in PLANTs, but rest of the world as well. And, while she didn't actively participate in this arena, Lacus was fully aware that her name wasn't exactly weightless among PLANT politicians. Though whether it was because of her father or her own achievements was debatable.

One the screen, the view changed, displaying the main hero of the interview. Ryis Delinard, a young man by politician standards, barely thirty years old. Short, perfectly trimmed dark blue hair in a business-like fashion. Deep violet eyes, practically gleaming with determination and energy. A thin, black mustache sat on his upper lip, plainly visible, despite the tanned skin. The tan looked naturally obtained, a rarity among PLANT politicians, who mostly were pale as ghosts. In fact, Ryis looked more like a fashion model than a politician. Well developed physique, yet not overly conspicuous further strengthened the image of him as a model on the cover of some fashion magazine. However, Lacus paid little attention to his appearance and focused mostly on what he said, which was something she was truly concerned about.

"Now, we have covered several interesting topics over the course of this interview." The host said. "However, I have to say, this one will probably be the most interesting. Mister Delinard, many people have accused you of displaying a racist view on the Naturals, the same thing mirrored by your organization. What do you have to say about these accusations?"

Ryis gave a short laugh and steepled his fingers in front of him. "I think words like "racism" are often thrown around these days. It is often confused with something like patriotism, or, perhaps, nationalism. However, to answer the question, I have to admit, there is some degree of truth to them. You see, the Union of Junius Seven, is an organization by Coordinators for Coordinators. We provide aid to people who suffered in that terrible incident. As a result, this interaction with the unfortunate victims is bound to leave a mark not only on our members, but the greater organization as a whole." Ryis paused and took a sip of water.

"Furthermore, racism usually means considering a certain race of people better, more advanced than others. To that I must say, isn't that the truth? Are Coordinators not better than Naturals? We mature faster, we are stronger, healthier, and we can do a lot more things than any Natural can ever hope to. For all intents and purposes, saying that Coordinators are an entirely different race is not that far fetched."

"So, it is safe to assume, that your Union is a Coordinator supremacist group?"

_The moment of truth. _Lacus thought and burrowed her eyes into Ryis's.

The Coordinator smiled again, and eventually nodded. "In a nutshell, yes. The Union does promote Coordinator supremacy. However … However, we are nothing like the organization some people compare us to. We are not like Blue Cosmos. The Union of Junius Seven does not engage in illegal activities, we do not demand a complete eradication of Naturals, and we certainly don't go in the streets to gun them down." He was about to say more, but Lacus reached out and turned off the sound. A deep frown on her forehead, while her mind thought things over.

What she had just heard was very unpleasant, to say the least. PLANTs certainly didn't need their own version of Blue Cosmos. There were enough problems to deal with than having angry mobs demanding the Council to wipe out the Naturals. Despite what Ryis had said, Lacus didn't quite believe him. The look in his eyes spoke differently from his mouth. He was hiding something. Lacus made a note to ask her father about the Union's activities and unmuted the TV. Instead of continuing to watch the interview, she started flipping through the channels, searching for anything else of interest.

Just as she reached a news channel, the report stating something about Orb suspected of hiding an Earth Alliance warship, the doorbell rang. Assuming it was her father coming back from work; Lacus slipped into light shoes and went to answer the doors. "Thank you, there is no need." Lacus smiled at the butler who was about to open the door. The servant bowed slightly and stepped back, allowing her to open the doors and greet her father firsthand. However, when she opened the doors, it wasn't her father standing outside. It was someone else.

The person was about her age, perhaps a year older. White, shoulder length hair, combed back gave her a good look at his face, instantly drawing her attention to the person's amber colored eyes. Before Lacus could open her mouth, the boy took the initiative.

"Good evening, milady. My name is Gabriel Benedict Von Angelos." He stated with a bow of his head. "I do apologize for disturbing your evening, especially by visiting your household with matters that would be best discussed at a more appropriate location and at their own time. However, it is of utmost importance that I meet mister Clyne."

It took Lacus a moment to regain her ability to speak. Something that had never happened to her. It was just that Gabriel's way of speaking was so funny and unusual. She wanted to laugh, but managed to keep it down with just a smile appearing on her lips. "Please, come in." She stepped back and gestured for him to enter. Gabriel nodded thanks and went inside, allowing Lacus to close the doors behind him. "Unfortunately my father is not home right now. Maybe I can help you?" A light of recognition crossed Gabriel's eyes.

"If mister Clyne is your father then you must be Lacus, is that correct? It is an honor to meet you, milady, your father often mentions you in his work. "

"Likewise Gabriel." Lacus held out her hand, however, this was where another surprise came in. Instead of shaking her hand, Gabriel took it, bowed down and lightly kissed it. This time Lacus was unable to hold back a short chuckle. Usually when most people did something like that, they mostly tried to look like old fashioned gentlemen. Their movements looked forced and sudden. Gabriel didn't display any of this. He did it as if he was doing it every single day, as if it was the standard way of greeting a woman.

After the greeting Gabriel proceeded to answer Lacus's question. "Unfortunately I do not think you will be able to help me. You see, I have come on the behalf of Yoshirou Kisaragi. He would like to request a meeting with the Supreme Chairman Siegel Clyne, in order to discuss matters of great importance. I have come here to arrange such a meeting."

"I see. Perhaps you would be willing to wait a little, my father usually returns from work around this time." Lacus offered and led him in the living room. "Although, it would have been a lot easier for you to contact one of his secretaries to arrange everything." She pointed out and gestured for him to take a seat on the couch.

Gabriel sat down and placed the small briefcase next to him on the ground. Lacus settled down on another couch in front of him, across a coffee table "Actually that was my first thought, however, mister Kisaragi is a very … demanding man. He asked me to take care of everything personally."

Lacus nodded understandingly, it wasn't the first time something like this had happened. There had been other times when various people sent their aides or assistants to the Clyne mansion. And it wouldn't be the last one either. "If you don't mind me asking, who is Yoshirou Kisaragi? I have never heard of him."

"He is a great man." Gabriel said proudly. "Yoshirou Kisaragi is the leader of the Kisaragi, a large corporation, specializing in the field of computers and electronics. Under Yoshirou's leadership it became the fastest growing corporation in Layered. I am proud to say that before the Great Destruction, Kisaragi was able of successfully competing with Crest Industries and Mirage in various, similar fields … Is there something wrong?" Gabriel paused when he saw the confused look on Lacus's face, her mind obviously busy with trying to make some sense out of what he had said. Eventually, she shook her head in bewilderment.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you are talking about. This is the first time I've heard of such organizations."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "You have not heard about them? What about Utopia? Circ-City? The Controller?" More shakes. "Ahh. In that case would you like to find out more about them in order to pass the time?" This time it was a nod. Gabriel smiled and took a second to recall what he had to tell. "It is a long story, and, if I'm not mistaken, it actually began on Earth…"

xxxxx

Siegel Clyne was not feeling good. He felt like a cold, heavy hand was gripping his heart and hundreds of people were watching him with shock and horror. The feeling didn't come from the inside, he hadn't eaten anything bad, and in fact he highly doubted there was food that could cause such a terrible feeling. The feeling came from the outside, form his surroundings. The room he was standing in, the person in front of him and the entire purpose of the facility he was inside.

Usually he would have done his best to either avoid this place or shut it down as a morally responsible person. However, this facility, this project, his greatest sin, was a necessary evil. It was also a source of motivation for him to stop the war as soon as possible. For if the war dragged on long enough, ZAFT would be forced to deploy one of their most deadliest weapons. He shuddered at the thought, therefore catching the attention of the other person in the room.

"Is something the matter? You look very pale." Irena Clais arched her eyebrows and eyed him cautiously, as if expecting him to faint any minute. "Maybe you should sit down. We've already covered most of the reports; I guess we can take a break." She continued in a slightly raspy voice.

"No, I don't think a break is necessary. The sooner we're done, the sooner I can get out of this place." Siegel shook his head, but took her advice and sat down on the chair he had left a few minutes ago when he had started his nervous pace back and forth. He threw a quick look at the document in his hand and placed it back on the desk. The move caused him to meet the eyes of the woman, sitting on the other side of the desk. He shivered again.

At first glance, director Irena Clais looked like a harmless old lady. Short, thin, her black hair tied up in a practical bun. Clad in a simple grey business suit, under a pristine white lab coat, her appearance further strengthened the beliefs of her harmlessness. At least until one saw her face. That's where this belief died instantly. It was plain to see that Irena had been a beautiful woman in her life, but age and more importantly the things she had gone through, had been devastating on her appearance, carving deep wrinkles in her face. However, the wrinkles seemed inconsequential when her eyes came into the view. Black, almost constantly narrowed eyes, were like a pair of black holes, seemingly drawing the person's soul inside them, whenever she met someone's gaze. However, the piercing gaze of her eyes was not enough to draw the attention from Irena's most noticeable part of appearance. A wicked scar crossed her throat the entire length, right where her Adam's apple was.

Irena had gotten that scar when a group of Naturals, proclaiming themselves members of Blue Cosmos, had broken into her house in the middle of the night, killed her husband and two sons and then had proceeded to rape her and her daughter. Afterwards they had killed her daughter as well, whereas the guy, who had raped her, cut Irena's throat and left her to die. Though help had arrived eventually and managed to save her life, the attackers were already long gone.

After her recovery, both physical and mental, Irena had left Australia and had moved to safety, to PLANTs. Though modern medicine was easily capable of removing scars such as hers, Irena had decided to keep it. A reminder of that horrible night almost twenty years ago, and a reminder of how cruel Naturals could be to Coordinators. The same scar was the cause of her raspy voice, which was one of the reasons why most people felt so uncomfortable around her. The unnerving voice and the steely look in her eyes gave her one hell of an intimidating aura. Even the tallest and meanest soldiers fell silent and tiptoed around this little lady.

"As you wish. I'll send you a copy of these reports so you can examine them later." Irena said, secretly enjoying the nervous look in Siegel's eyes. "Lastly, I have a little bit of a surprise for you. It is not something included in those reports, since we're not one hundred percent certain of the effectiveness of the procedure, but we made some progress three days ago … We managed to replicate and amplify the brainwaves of a psychic's mind, resulting on a large scale psychokinetic influence on the target. Our scientists are still performing tests to see if we can get consistent data, however, it is safe to say that we have reached a milestone regarding the Wizard project."

"You did it? You managed to do it artificially?" Siegel took a deep breath. Irena smiled and nodded.

"Yes, but we are still testing if it was a clean result, without any outside influence. Do far, everything looks good. We will soon be able to move to the next stage of the project." Siegel didn't know whether to smile, or cry out in horror. To him, the project was a horrible atrocity. Experimenting on people, even if they were willing volunteers, was wrong. However, He also realized that regarding the initialization of this project, his hand had been forced.

It all had started almost a year ago, when ZAMI, and eventually he, had learned about the Alliance's BCPU project. Mechanically and chemically augmented soldiers who were able to take on Coordinators on even terms. At first, they had dismissed these reports as inconsequential and a minor threat. However, over the months, as more and more information was pouring in, their concern grew and their minds changed, especially when it was discovered that Blue Cosmos was in charge of creating these soldiers. Knowing how much Blue Cosmos despised Coordinators and how far the organization was prepared to go, they started paying more attention. What they discovered was more than unnerving. BCPUs weren't created to be equal to Coordinators; they were made to be better than any Coordinator. A single BCPU was capable of defeating several Coordinators at once. Once the Alliance started deploying them, especially in Mobile Suits, it was almost certain that ZAFT casualties would reach catastrophic levels. Even the most dedicated pilots would not be able to stop them.

Therefore, after several sleepless nights and long conversations with Patrick, Siegel had decided to do something about it. If PLANTs were to have any chance of peace, they had to be on equal footing with the Alliance. That required soldiers capable of dealing with these BCPUs. As a countermeasure to the inevitable deployment of Earth Alliance's super soldiers, project Wizard was launched. The task of the project was to train special soldiers, capable of fighting any enemy. Though he considered this project a sin, Siegel calmed himself by pointing out that their approach was less brutal and merciless. They weren't kidnapping children from the streets, quite the opposite. All participants were old enough to realize what they were signing up for and were perfectly willing to do it. He also reminded himself that he was doing for the sake of a peaceful and safe future for his beloved daughter. That was a price he was willing to pay.

"I see. And how long will it take until they are ready for deployment?"

This time it was Irena who looked downcast. She grabbed her hands and twirled her thumbs for a moment while she made a few calculations. "Our most optimistic predictions say it'll take us at least six to seven months. A year by the time we manage to design and build appropriate Mobile Suits for them … Siegel, I know you are against this, but we could cut the timetable in half if we take a more … involved approach."

"No!" Siegel instantly rejected the suggestion. "Just because I allowed this monstrosity to happen does not mean I will compromise all of my ideals and let you do as you wish to the test subjects! What we are doing is wrong enough; we cannot allow ourselves to stoop down to their level! You will follow the safety measures I have outlined and will not deviate from them! Do you understand?" The fact that he was the first and only person to actually raise their voice against Irena passed by him completely unnoticed.

The scientist watched him, her eyes narrowed even more than usual. Irena wasn't used to people getting in her face. No one had the guts to do it. She must have struck quite a nerve for Siegel to react like that. "Fine. I understand." She finally admitted.

xxxxx

"I understand." Irena muttered to herself several hours later. Siegel Clyne had left a long time ago, but the last part of the conversation still repeated itself in her mind. The understanding had been made on more than one level. Siegel Clyne, though a great man, was too bound by his morals and ideals. He lacked the true dedication to lead the project to its full potential. His funding often involved requirements of detailed reports about the safety procedures and progress reports. More attention was paid to the survival of the subjects than any other kind of progress. That was unacceptable.

Irena slowly reached out and touched the cool surface of the life support tank. The tank, filled with amniotic fluid, contained her greatest creation. One she was careful to hide from Siegel's investigations. Deaths of other test subjects leading to this point were an obvious breach of Siegel's established rules and limits. And, from the look of things, it would take many more deaths before the person in the tank had reached his greatest potential. She had been fortunate to find a new source of funding, one which didn't lack dedication and thirst for revenge and was willing to do everything to achieve their goals. Even if it meant sacrificing others. That way Irena was capable of having this little side project, one Siegel had no idea about.

"Never forget, never forgive!" Irena whispered, looking at the unclear features of her greatest work, the greatest of Wizards. She opened her mouth and whispered a single word. "Merlin."

xxxxx

"Leonard, you know I can carry my bag all by myself. It is not that heavy, and we are in space, so there is no need for you to do it." A girlish voice interrupted the silence that reigned in the corridor. It belonged to a young girl who was trying to pry her bag out of the grip of a much older, muscular man. The man watched the girl's fruitless attempts of recovering her bag and grinned in amusement. He lifted the bag up to his shoulder, out of her reach and grinned even wider.

"I guess I could simply give you the bag, but then you'd be missing an important lesson, Lena … There are things in life you can't reach by your own strength and have to rely on help from others." He switched Lena's bag to the same hand he was holding his in and patted her on the head. Lena immediately stopped her attempts and stepped away from his, while a faint blush colored her cheeks. "You are cute when you're so shy like that." Lena mumbled something incomprehensible and stopped her efforts of retrieving her bag.

"Okay, if you want it, then I'll let you carry it." She quietly added a moment later. "But please give it back when we've reached the hangar."

"Is that an order coming from the Blue Angel?" Leonard mentioned her nickname while glancing over his shoulder. One look was enough to see where she gotten that nickname. The seventeen year old girl was extremely beautiful. The delicate and shapely body was barely hidden by the blue flight suit she wore. Her neck length black hair flowed freely in the reduced gravity of Circ-City, whereas a pair of deep green eyes stared back at him. Leonard shook his head again; it was strange how such a beauty could be born in that hellhole.

"Stop that, you know I'm not…"

"You're not? Tell that to all those guys who were staring at you when you walked past them. There is no reason for you to be ashamed for the name people have given you. Besides, you're not this shy whenever you're inside the Proto Star." Leonard pointed out, careful not to mention that fact that those same guys had earned a death glare from him. Ogling his practically adopted daughter was a surefire method of getting your ass kicked. They had backed down immediately, Leonard's reputation was big enough.

Lena ran her fingers across the helmet, clipped to her waist. "It's different. When I'm inside, it's not just me who is going out there. The Proto Star is with me, so there is nothing for me to be afraid of."

"You have that right!" Leonard nodded agreement as the rounded a corner. "Our ACs are what makes us the gods of battle, so there's no reason not to feel unsure about yourself. Just remember, you're not the only one with a AC out there and even inferior machines are dangerous if you underestimate them." Lena took the advice seriously. After all Leonard had taught her everything she knew about ACs and was the most experienced pilot of all. Leonard had been fighting battles even before she was born.

She paused in her step when her thoughts ventured into that area. _Don't think about it!_ She dragged her thoughts away from that particular path and decided to change the topic. "Leonard, what we were hired to do anyway? The details were a bit unclear."

"Didn't you pay any attention? You could have just asked that girl to explain it… oh, yeah, that's right." Leonard sighed. "Then listen up. Mirage has gotten wind of very unpleasant things about to happen. Someone who is not from the corporations is willing to sell Utopian tech to the natives and make a lot of money in the process. Considering their level of technology I'm thinking they'll jump to it like flies to honey. Considering that all three corporations are busy selling technology for necessary supplies, it is obvious why Mirage is so unhappy about this stray businessman. Anyway, our task is to get to the location of the meeting and put the guy out of business. Permanently." Leonard couldn't hide a predatory grin. "This will also send a strong message other potential tech dealers."

"What about natives? Must we kill them too?" Lena frowned at his last words. Leonard always enjoyed killing a bit too much for her taste. Sure, killing was a big part of her job and sometimes, necessary, but it wasn't anything she enjoyed and always tried to minimize the casualties. Whereas Leonard always went for the highest body count possible.

"Nope. Mirage specifically stated that no harm must come to natives. They don't want to mess up their relations with them. At least for now. All we have to do is to swoop in, take out the Raven and be done with it."

"A Raven is selling the technology? Who is it?"

"Anthony Mollero. Good pilot. Which is probably why Mirage hired us both to kick his ass." Leonard replied and stopped in front of the doors leading to the hangar. Once they entered, he fulfilled his promise and passed Lena's bag over to her.

Lena took the bag, though the absentminded look in her eyes said she was thinking about something else. "Anthony … Anthony … If I remember it right he is the pilot of the Sangreal, right?"

"Yep, that's right. A good AC with a skilled pilot. This won't be easy."

"We're also good pilots." Lena pointed out, bringing a proud smile on Leonard's lips.

"Yes, we are." He replied and stopped in front of his AC. "Hello, old friend." He raised his gaze and studied the machine affectionately.

At thirty eight tons, the Joker represented the middleweight class, though the weapons it packed would not be out of place on a much heavier machine. The AC itself looked rather unusual, a streamlined body wan arms placed on top of heavy looking, block reverse joint legs. The reversed joints allowed for higher jumps and better maneuverability when relying purely on legs. Lastly, the head was different from the usually wolfish design due to the fact that its shape mostly resembled that of a human, although the cluster of six camera eyes made it look like some sort of a spider. The entire AC was painted mostly pale blue, turning teal in the middle of the armor plates, whereas the rims and joints carried a touch of yellow.

The main weapon of the Joker was a source of envy from several other Ravens. A 25mm twin barreled laser rifle, a prototype and a gift, the weapon was the first multi-barrel energy weapon Utopians had produced. Though the caliber of the weapon made it more like a carbine, the damage it inflicted was beyond what any carbine could achieve. The left hand held an 88mm rifle. A proven and reliable weapon, capable of putting down any enemy with well placed shots. The forearm of the left arm also housed the integral part of every AC, a laser blade.

Sitting on the left back was another classic the famous 155mm cannon, whereas the spot behind the right shoulder was occupied by another, relatively new weapon, a 120mm railgun. Although slow firing and requiring large amounts of power, it's ability to penetrate armor more than made up for it. Plus the accuracy was impressive also, allowing for accurate shots over vast distances.

Near the Joker stood Lena's pride and Joy. The Proto Star. The dark blue AC, with silver joints was a definite lightweight, if the design was of any sign. The slightly roundish shapes to the structure, made it look like a suit of armor, despite the red camera eye staring down from the front of the head. With only twenty eight tons under the belt, the Proto Star carried lighter weapons than the Joker did, though they were in no way less lethal.

A standard model of a 50mm laser rifle was gripped in the right hand. Whereas the left hand held a nasty close combat weapon, a 90mm rapid fire shotgun. The weapon was brutal in close range, but the nature of its ammunition and recoil made it very hard to aim accurately, especially with the lack of additional recoil absorbers in the forearm. The absence of these vital systems was justified by the need of housing a much longer version of the Joker's laser blade.

The back mounted weapons consisted of a 20 tube micro missile launcher behind the left shoulder. With emphasis placed on quantity and rate of fire, the micro missiles were excellent for putting pressure on the enemy. The second back weapon was a 115mm medium rocket launcher. Using a six chamber revolver type firing system, the weapon could fire six unguided warheads at the enemy before requiring reloading. The lack of any guidance systems was a flaw, but the sheer amount of highly potential explosives made even a near miss hit like a devastating blow.

Both Ravens spared a moment to enjoy the sight of their ACs before slowly stepping forward and heading towards the elevators that would take them to the respective cockpits. "Don't be nervous, Lena. This is a simple job. It'll be over before you know it." Lenard said to his partner, when he noticed a slight amount of nervousness in her gait. He couldn't hold back a short chuckle. Young ones were always so worried when they had to wait for something. It was something they all had to go through at some point of their lives. Even if it was at the beginning of a simple job.


	25. Pleasant Conversations

A/N - So, another new chapter. This time say hello to Tao White, submitted by Titanic X. As some of you will notice, this chapter contains little action and that I have skipped over the battle where the Archangel enters Orb. I know, this is probably the second fight I have skipped. Then again, I assume we all know what happened in those, especially when they're pretty much the same as they were in series. However, do not be upset by the lack of action lately - I have a little surprise in the works...

* * *

„Wow, you people have really fun investigation missions. I don't think I've ever enjoyed myself so much while I was supposed to be looking for something." Juliet took a deep breath of the ocean air and leaned against the railings, in order to take a better look at the beach below. The sight before her certainly warranted the amount of excitement she felt. White sand beach, stretching for several kilometers on her left. To her right, the beach continued for a few hundred meters and then disappeared out of her sight, as it curved towards the inland, where a large bay was located.

As expected, the beach was filled with hundreds of people, to whom the only concern seemed to be making a choice on how to enjoy this sunny day. Some of them, mostly kids, were playing in the water, laughing their heads off, as they splashed water onto each other, like kids often did. Those who were older enjoyed the water in a slightly different manner, whether it was something as simple as swimming, surfing or any other of the myriad opportunities of water sports. A fair amount of people preferred to stay dry and relaxed by participating in various beach activities, ranging from sunbathing to beach volleyball.

Juliet cast a longing gaze at them, wishing to be able to slip into a bikini and join them. With a deep sigh she broke her gaze off the joyful scenery and went after her partner. She quickly closed the distance between them and was soon walking side by side with the guy she was supposed to do the scouting with. "Hey, slow down a little. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"We have a job to do." Yzak replied out of the corner of his mouth, while his eyes were looking at the city map in his hands.

"I know, I know. We must find the Archangel." Juliet pouted in annoyance. She glanced across the street at the various shops stretching along the beach-side of the city. Instantly her mind started wandering again. There were so many shops out there. So many types of clothes to buy. "C'mon, let's go check out the stores, we have lots of time and we need a break anyway." She took off her jacket and slung it over her shoulder. The heat didn't bother her much, but the humidity was unlike anything she had experienced. She was glad she had decided to go with her usual casual wear, not the grey technician coveralls the guys sported. Juliet glanced at Yzak, wearing not only a full collar jacket and pants, but also a cap and sighed. "How can you stand that? Doesn't the heat bother you?"

"No, it doesn't. And stop acting like a tourist, we're not here on vacation, we're here to do a job." Yzak kept his answers short and to the point, causing a scene due to some argument was the last thing he wanted. "I should have gone with Dearka." He added too quietly for her to hear. At least that's what he thought.

Juliet arched her eyebrows and leaned closer to him. "Oh? You don't like my company?" She was pleased to see him startle. "I have to say, the feeling's mutual. Besides, you know that Dearka's not feeling good today and had to stay at the hotel."

"He's probably faking. That was two days ago! There's no way his head is still hurting after that fight."

"I don't think so. Getting double tapped by a pair of 155mm cannon rounds is no laughing matter." Juliet shook her head in mild amazement. "If it weren't for that armor, he'd be dead. Of course, that armor also does a piss poor job of softening a blow, so maybe that's the reason why he's feeling so bad."

Yzak sighed and pocketed the map with a snort. "155mm is basically an artillery size weapon. If Dearka got hit by such an unwieldy thing, he deserves every bit of that headache. Especially if when he had more than enough time to evade, since that guy wasn't in a hurry to deploy it."

"I agree. On a battlefield you have to keep moving." They both paused for a moment, realizing that this was probably the first time they both agreed with something. "Hey, you know what? Let's take a little break. We've been walking around since morning and I need some time off." Juliet suggested. She pointed at the shops across the street. "Let's check those out. They look interesting."

"We're supposed to be looking for the Archangel. There's a naval yard not far from here, we have to check it out."

"Good, it's close and won't go anywhere. It'll still be there later." Juliet's eyes were now fixed on the traffic, searching for an opening big enough to make it across the street. "Besides, I need your help, I don't know if they accept gold coins."

"Gold coins? Why the hell do you have something like that?"

"Force of habit. Not everyone accepted the official currency back at Layered, so a lot of people used gold to pay for things. Furthermore, I heard they're still working out how to incorporate Utopian Dollars into Earth's monetary system. Until they determine the value, I'm stuck with these things." She pulled out a single coin from the pocket and showed Yzak a small gold coin, gleaming in the midday sun. "C'mon." She said and darted across the street, paying no attention to traffic rules.

Yzak watched the end of her braid disappear among the people like a panther's tail. "Damn it! Hey, wait up!" He started running across the street as well. "Juliet, wait up!"

xxxxx

"Look at all these Mobile Suits! I had no idea Orb was building such things." Daniel felt his eyes bulging out, as he surveyed the pieces of machinery around him. More than twenty Mobile Suits were lined up along both walls of the hangar, staring down at him with their dark camera eyes. Even without any weapons, the white, black and orange Mobile Suits looked very impressive and deadly.

The woman, who had introduced herself as Erica Simmons, smiled approvingly. "They're called the Astrays and they're the spearhead of Orb's power. The need to stay current with the advances of military technology forced us to develop these machines in order to ensure Orb's safety."

"That might be true, but it also caused Orb a lot of problems from the political standpoint." A new voice said from behind them. Kira, Erica and Daniel turned around and saw Cagalli approaching them with the usual defiant look in her eyes. She looked at the nearest Astray and sighed. "All in the name of Orb's ideals."

"Ideals?"

"Yes, Kira. Orb does not invade other nations, and neither does it allow other nations to invade it. Lastly, Orb does not get involved in the disputes of other nations. This will be the strength to allow us to hold on to those ideals." Cagalli explained. "Orb is, or rather was, a country like that. Unfortunately, it all changed when my father betrayed Orb and agreed to build those five units at Heliopolis."

"You're bringing that up again? I already told you, it isn't like that. The fact that Morgenroete was designing and building Mobile Suits for Earth Alliance on the neutral Heliopolis colony was not known to the Chief Representative…"

"Oh, shut up!" Cagalli fiercely cut the older woman off. "You think an excuse like that will work? What kind of a leader has no idea about what's happening in his country?"

"Well, he did take responsibility for it, didn't he?"

"Resigning doesn't solve anything! My father is still the one calling the shots. Nothing has changed."

"Even if that's true, Orb needs a person like Uzumi."

"Do we really need a coward like him?" Cagalli snorted in disdain.

"You still talk about him like that? After everything he has done for you." Erica sighed, her words instantly silenced Cagalli, who was about to state another remark about her father. "On top of that, you even created a scene yesterday … He really doesn't have a lot of reasons to be happy, especially after having to slap you in the face for your horrible behavior." Both boys gave surprised looks to Cagalli, but the girl merely touched her cheek and ignored them.

"Now, leave this foolish girl and follow me, you two. I will show you the reason why I asked you to come here." Erica smiled at her victory over the tomboyish princess and led the way towards another set of doors.

After a brief walk, they all reached what looked like a control and observation room. Full of various computers and scientists, the room was pretty dark, making it hard to see any particular details. As it turned out, the semi darkness was specially created not to distract them from what they were supposed to test and observe. A massive pane of armored glass separated the control room from a massive underground testing hangar. In the middle of the hangar, there stood four more Astrays. "Ah, I see we're just in time. You will soon see the reason why we need your help." Erica picked up a pair of headphones. She then addressed what apparently seemed to be pilots of the Mobile Suits. "Asagi, Julie, Mayura, Tao are you girls ready?"

"Yes." A chorus of young and eager voices replied. Daniel and Kira were caught completely off guard. None of them had expected to find out that such young people were working as test pilots. Then again, they weren't much older themselves.

"Excellent, go ahead then." Erica ordered them to start the exercise. Orb's problem was made obvious the second the Astrays started to move. The Mobile Suits moved sluggishly and slowly, their movements were sloppy at best. Even Daniel, who didn't consider himself the best pilot out there, was certain he could take on all these Mobile Suits with his Pulverizer and emerge victorious.

His thoughts were shared by another person in the room. Upon witnessing the horrible performance of the four pilots, she let out a derisive snort. "They're horrible. There is no way they're going to last for long in an actual battle. I've seen drunks move with more grace and fluidity."

"Hey!"

"That's mean!"

"Do you have any idea how much work we've put into this?" Apparently the room's sensors had picked up Cagalli's words and, with the com-lines open, had transmitted them to the pilots. The resulting storm of exclamations was a definite proof of that. Despite that, Cagalli wasn't the one to back down.

"You all think the enemy is going to care about that? All that matters is whether you're good enough to defeat the enemy. And, judging from what I'm seeing here, you all are a bunch of walking targets."

"Look who's talking! You can't even pilot this thing." The female pilots weren't of the submissive sort themselves.

Cagalli took a step towards the window, as if trying to find out who said that. "Oh yeah? Is that all you have to say? You want me to give it a try? I could probably take you all on with one hand tied behind my back. "

The banter was not allowed to progress any further. Erica decided to step in and stop it before the girls started throwing more personal accusations around. "Okay, okay. Stop it … Calm down everyone. We're all here to solve this problem, not point out the flaws in others." She paused to see whether her words were taken into account. They were. Then she addressed the two boys in the room. "Now you see what I was talking about. As I said, this is exactly the reason why we asked for your help. We need you to come up with a Natural compatible operating system."

Even though he hadn't come up with an answer, Kira's mind was already searching for possible solutions and suggestions. He was fairly certain he could do it. Creating the system he used on the Strike hadn't been that hard. It had taken him barely a minute to work out the major flaws of the original program when he piloted the Gundam for the first time. A slightly longer and more detailed work had been needed to finish the work once the battle was done. As a result, he was very familiar with it. Working a bit more in order to customize it for Natural use shouldn't take much longer than a couple of days, in his opinion. Besides, it was the least he could do. After all, Orb had offered them shelter and the chance of repairing the Strike and the Archangel as well. Therefore, it was an easy choice for him.

Daniel watched Kira nod his assent and felt his confusion increase. "Excuse me, but why did you ask me to come, then? I don't know how to create a control program."

"I know, but as a Natural, you have the greatest experience in combating Mobile Suits. So maybe you could drop a few tips and share the experience." Erica replied kindly. She had known the boy's parents and felt very sorry for his loss. Not only had they been among the strongest forces that moved the project, they had been good people as well. The fact that the boy in front of her had to live without his parents at such young age was almost painful for her. Still, she didn't let those emotions leak out. Daniel seemed to be holding himself together pretty well, so there was no need to reopen the wound. Besides, there was another reason why she had asked Daniel to come as well. "And Orb is also interested in learning about the Pulverizer."

The confusion on Daniel's face disappeared very quickly and was replaced by the expression of self-satisfaction. With Erica admitting Orb needed his help to train their pilots, his ego received a boost he hadn't felt for some time now. "You want me to help train your pilots? Sure, I can do that."

"Excellent." Erica beamed; just like Daniel she paid no attention to the disgusted look on Cagalli's face. She was also happy about the possibility of studying Utopian technology. Orb had learned about Circ-City, and the events surrounding it, some time ago, but couldn't afford to spare the resources and effort to establish direct contact. Therefore, having an example of Utopian technology, though damaged, fall into their hands was enough to make Erica consider taking up religion. It was truly a gift from heaven.

xxxxx

Flay stared at the empty spot in the Archangel's hangar and frowned. She looked to either side and almost instantly began to question the usefulness of the action. If she couldn't see it the second she walked into the hangar, it meant it wasn't there. After all, the object she was looking for wasn't a needle or something equally small. The object of her search was the Strike, a seventeen meter tall Gundam. If she couldn't see it, then it obviously wasn't there. The realization that the Strike wasn't in the hangar made it clear to Flay that Kira wasn't on the ship. There was no one else capable of piloting it. Therefore she could easily discount the possibility of someone else taking the Strike.

She stood in the hangar and felt her spirit dropping. She had decided to use the opportunity of the Archangel not being attacked to talk to Kira. The increasing rift between them was seriously starting to trouble her. Even though Kira didn't show it, Flay was no fool, she noticed the signs. With every passing day, they had less and less things to talk about. Every time Flay tried to bring the problem up, Kira stated that he had other, more important things to take care of and would talk to her later. Of course that "later" never happened. He either hung out with Cagalli or worked on his Mobile Suit until he fell asleep; leaving her all alone in the room they shared. It was as if he wasn't noticing her existence at all.

At first Flay was glad she didn't have to spend every moment with him. After all, she constantly reminded herself that Kira was supposed to be the tool of her vengeance. Kira was supposed to redeem himself for failing to protect her father by killing Coordinators who were responsible for it. What happened to him in the process didn't matter. He was a tool. A tool's purpose was to be used to its full capacity and then discarded. At least that was the plan.

Lately Flay had realized that it was becoming increasingly hard to hold on to her plan. She couldn't imagine why, but for some reason there were other feelings starting to surface whenever she thought about Kira. They weren't strong, but they were there, constantly interfering with thoughts revolving regarding her plan for Kira. She also could not identify them, for they, despite their near constant presence, were elusive and immaterial. They were like a mist, vanishing in the morning sun whenever Flay tried to take a closer look at them. Though she could not identify some of her emotions, she certainly felt their effects. Especially since they summoned other, stronger emotions in certain situations. Anger whenever Kira was around Cagalli. Depression whenever Kira ignored or didn't spend time with her. But what truly puzzled, and even scared her, was the mixture of joy and compassion whenever Kira was depressed. She wanted to smile, to laugh in his face and comfort him at the same time. It was so confusing that Flay could only stand there and watch him silently, too afraid to move or do something. She had no idea what she might do if she tried to intervene. Whether she would let her hate for him and his kind overtake her, or would she give in to the compassionate and caring side of her. There was absolutely no telling what would happen.

Flay had given it serious thought, thus the reason for her staying in her room all the time, and had decided to clear things up once and for all. Her plan was to find Kira and set things straight about pretty much everything. She wanted to be perfectly clear about her feelings, Kira's feelings and whatever else concerned them. There was just one problem. Kira was nowhere to be found, and now that she was standing in the empty hangar, Flay understood that her chances of talking to Kira were practically nonexistent.

She was about to head back to her room and wait for Kira to return when her eyes fell on a large shape further away in the hangar. Right next to the massive bulk of the Warchief tank stood the tall shape of the Dingo, its cheerful ginger-yellow and white colors in sharp contrast with Flay's current mood. Unlike Kira and Daniel, Jack hadn't been requested to go to the Morgenroete facilities and therefore had remained on the Archangel.

Perhaps for the first time in her life Flay took a careful look at the machine. All the time various matters had required her to concentrate on the pilots, not the machines they used. Now, with a strange numbness and confusion in her mind, Flay really looked at one of the guardians of the Archangel. And for the first time there wasn't a single thought about any of the pilots in her mind. Currently she had eyes only for the AC in front of her.

Her gaze traveled across the solid surfaces of the Dingo, practically feeling the protection the armor granted. A simple metal plate, whose sole purpose was to take blow after blow, after blow without falling apart or giving in to the punishment. To face full power of everything the world threw at it and not yield even the tiniest bit. All just to protect other parts of the machine lying underneath. Other parts that weren't as tough or hard to stand for themselves. Such an existence puzzled her. To be created for the sole purpose of facing destruction. It was like the only reason a person was born was to be killed. Flay shuddered. It had to be such a horrible existence, living a life filled with nothing but danger. She realized that lately her life hadn't been much different. Ever since that day on Heliopolis, she couldn't remember experiencing a moment when she had felt truly safe. Despite her efforts to ward off that horrible feeling, it remained a constant part of her mind and was always there whenever they were under attack.

Unlike the Dingo before her, Flay didn't have any power to defend herself. No deadly weapons to destroy everything that posed a threat. Weapons created to sow death and destruction on the battlefield, and bring death at an instant. Whatever problem there was, whatever threat faced them, it did not matter. All was blown away with pure force. A solution to each and every problem. It was exactly the kind of power Flay sometimes wished to have, the power to simply take everything that troubled her and make it go away, make it disappear in a cloud of smoke and fire.

A cold sensation settled on her hand. She looked down and started. Her hand was resting on the railing of the elevator next to the AC. Flay looked back and realized that she had been unconsciously walking towards the Dingo ever since she had laid eyes on it. The girl looked at her hand and quickly pulled it back, holding it to her chest as if she had burned it. Why had she done it? Why had she been so mesmerized by this machine? It had never happened before. She had seen the Strike, the Pulverizer and the Dingo a lot of times and had never gotten her attention captured like this. So why now? What was happening to her?

Flay took a step back, the question burning in her mind, and was ready to leave. However, she soon found out she couldn't. Not now, just not now. There was something … something fascinating about the machine towering before her. She looked up, her eyes almost instantly settling on the open cockpit. _What if…?_ Flay shook her head, banishing the unfinished thought. It was a dangerous thing she had been thinking about. A very dangerous thing. Especially for someone like her. The experience with the Strike had showed it that these things were not meant for people like her. Only special kind of people could… _What if it was just Sai? _Another thought popped up. This time she made no attempt of banishing it, as it had summoned a series of new questions. What if it had really been just Sai? Did it really require a special kind of people to pilot these machines? After all, Daniel was just like her, but he was piloting the Pulverizer just fine. Jack also was different from Kira, but wasn't this his machine in front of her?_ What if…_ She placed her hand on the railing again. _What if I am also special?_

The unspoken words echoed in her mind and a strange feeling of tranquility and peace came into existence inside her. It felt like these emotions had waited for a very long time, eternity, for her to reach and finish that thought. Surprised by the sudden rush of long forgotten feelings, Flay felt her resolve growing and tightened her grip. Hesitantly, expecting the sensation to vanish at any moment, she slowly stepped on the elevator and activated it.

The slight tremble at the start caused her to gasp, but she paid it no heed. All her attention was focused on the target. Flay watched the cockpit move closer and closer, and bit her lip in anticipation. She was still unsure how far she was willing to go, but it didn't really matter. At that moment she felt like she was living from moment to moment and there was no time or place for doubts or other thoughts. To her, at that time, the cockpit was the only thing that existed in the world. She felt like nothing could make her look away, in fact, no other thought existed in her mind, no other person even mattered to her. She could only see and think about the cockpit.

With another light tremble, the elevator stopped once it had reached the required height. The pilot's seat was right in front of her. All it would take was a single step and she would be standing not on the elevator, but on the footrest of the Dingo. A machine designed and built to face any kind of danger and emerge victorious. Flay was standing on the very edge of the elevator, trying to spot every single detail before making that step. It was like she had reached some kind of point of no return. The very edge of the abyss. Flay could feel it. She had no idea how or why, but she knew. If she were to take that single step, something inside her would change. She would be a completely different person. Better or worse, she had no idea, but certainly different.

She looked at the seat, noting that for some reason the padded parts had leather cover. She spotted a single keyboard and display, attached to one of the armrests and folded aside. Flay leaned over the edge and peeked to the left. Inside the cockpit. It was dimly lit, but she could make out several other types of controls. There were various witches, panels, displays, joysticks, pedals and screens. The amount of them was slightly intimidating, but Flay did not change her mind. If she was unable to move this machine, then the least she could do was to find out how it felt to be in its cockpit. To find out how it felt to have the power of deciding who lived or died at her fingertips. To find out how it felt to be completely safe from all harm.

She looked to the right, back at the seat again and took a deep breath. In addition to the large amount of controls, Flay had spotted another deterrent. A narrow opening running the entire length of the backrest. She knew exactly what it was for. Daniel's stories had reached her ears as well. "It looks like nothing in this world can be gained without paying a price." Flay muttered and felt her resolve slacking. The prospect of having dozens of needles slammed into her back wasn't something she was looking forward to. _Maybe I shouldn't…_

The girl stared at the opening, expecting the needles to pop out any second. _Why not? You're not going to turn this thing on. You just want to find out how it feels to be a pilot. _Another voice spoke up. _Will you make the last step or will you go back to your room and cower under the bed sheets like you always do?_ This wasn't a voice she had ever heard before. Flay didn't think she was supposed to have any voices in her mind at all, but apparently she was wrong. This part of her not only talked to her, but it was also slightly disturbing. _You can go back and keep living like the worthless coward you are, Flay._ It was the mention of her name, in that cold and scary voice that did it. She reached out to grab the armrest and pull herself into the seat.

"I wouldn't do that." A voice from below made her jump and let out a short shriek. Flay jumped away from the seat and almost fell down when her back met the railings. She quickly recovered and, with her hands almost white from how strong she was holding on to the railings, she looked down. "Yeah, Flay, I'm talking to you. Touching what belongs to others without their permission is not nice, so I would like you to come down here." Jack stared at her, both hands on his hips.

Reluctantly throwing one last look at the cockpit, Flay activated the elevator and rode it all the way down. She stepped off the small platform and came face to face with Jack. "Why?" He said only a single word. Much to her relief, Jack didn't look to be angry, just surprised.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to … I don't know what came over me." Flay struggled to find an explanation.

Jack tilted his head and chuckled. It was so funny to watch this girl trying to explain her actions. She looked like a child caught red-handed. Suddenly he saw her eyes and a knowing grin flashed across his face. "It is an amazing machine, isn't it?" He looked at the AC, a move Flay mirrored.

"Yes." Flay admitted after a brief moment of thought. Part of her was still slightly upset about the missed opportunity, but was a passing sensation. By the time she spoke again, she wasn't upset anymore, just curious. "How does it feel to be a pilot?"

"It's like being a god." Jack's answer was short and simple. When Flay gave him a puzzled look he shrugged and gave a more detailed answer. "It gives you the feeling of complete and total invulnerability, the power to take on the entire world and type of freedom it's impossible to describe. It must be experienced to be understood … The first time is unforgettable." His voice became dreamy. Flay could only stare at him with naked envy. It was just like she had imagined. Just what she was about to experience for herself, but had been denied at the very end. It was so unfair! "By the way, who were you looking for?" Jack suddenly changed the topic in a more businesslike tone. Flay immediately felt her defenses going up and making her consider what to tell.

"What makes you think I was looking for someone? I could be just taking a walk around the ship and enjoying my free time. Does that mean I'm looking for someone?"

Jack flashed another one of those knowing grins. As if he had her all figured out and only had to prove it to her. "I think you are. You tensed up when I mentioned the search and you tried to deny it twice in the same breath. You walked past the galley three times this morning with a concerned expression on your face and you look too nice to be working in the hangar."

That last part caught Flay completely off guard. Was Jack complimenting her? "Uhh, thank you?" She said with a frown.

"I meant your uniform. It does not look like the type that would protect you during maintenance, especially those skirts you're wearing. Furthermore it doesn't look like the type that is supposed to be washed and cleaned very often." Jack explained. "Your hands are too delicate to hold heavy tools and I don't think you've held one at all. Not only is your hair too long, the hairstyle is very dangerous. Too easy for it to be caught by moving parts. Love the color though … beautiful. The combination of various fresh smells of bath products, tells me that you've been in the shower recently. That itself tells two things. First you're slacking off while other mechanics are repairing the ship. Second, I haven't met a mechanic who, judging by the smell, uses at least four different cosmetic products. That means you're not part of the hangar crew." Jack took a deep breath, obviously ready to continue with his observations. However, Flay had heard enough.

She raised her hand to stop him. "Yes, you guessed right. I'm not a mechanic and I was looking for someone. Satisfied?" Truth be told, she didn't know what to think of all this. Jack was pointing out her flaws, stating facts about her, as well as complimenting her appearance and noting all the little things that were hard to notice. All at the same time. The last two were rather enjoyable, since Kira had never complimented her. Therefore, the mention of the unpleasant things went by unnoticed.

"Yes, actually. Who you were looking for anyway? I'm sure it's not me, however, given that fact that you were staring at the Dingo like a hungry Bloodback, I'm starting to doubt my assumption."

"Why should I tell you? It's none of your business." Flay retorted defensively.

"Hmm, let me guess. You're looking for Kira, right?" Jack completely ignored her. "Are some things not working out with him?"

Caught off guard by the accurate guess, Flay felt her jaw drop a little, just like her heart. "How, did you know? Did Kira tell you that?" She felt an increasing pressure inside her chest. Jack's words had shifted her thoughts on the path of depression and pain. A path she treaded very often as of late. A path that often left her balancing on the edge of a breakdown. So far she had been successful avoiding falling over that edge, but it was becoming increasingly harder to do and Flay couldn't tell when the day would come when she no longer had the inner strength to step away.

"Kira? Nah, haven't spoken to him for a long time … Regarding your question, I know it because I can see it. Whenever I see you two together, you're clinging to him with that desperate look on your face, yet the guy barely seems to acknowledge you're there. Even when he's not around, you look like you will start crying any moment. You avoid others as if they might attack you any moment. Of course, that is assuming you leave your room in the first place. It's as if you're afraid, no, terrified of something … It is things like that that tell me something's not right."

"Everything is fine!" Flay scowled at him, but was unable to work any kind of anger in it, quite the opposite, she felt a wave of despair well up inside her. After all, it was true. The realization that other people were noticing it, made wonders for ruining her mood. It was one thing to keep some problems inside, away from others. It was an entirely different thing when everyone was aware of them. It made her feel exposed and weak. It also hurt her pride, since such a vulnerable state inevitably led to pity, something she disliked intensely. In Flay's opinion, being pitiful was the worst thing that could happen to someone. That's why she had to remain strong. She could not afford losing her pride. She could not…

Flay realized her breath was trembling as she inhaled. A sensation of an invisible hand chocking her throat was becoming stronger with every passing moment. Her chest felt like it was about to explode and her vision became blurry. Flay felt her legs giving in to the emotional weight placed ion them and collapsed on her knees. She felt sick and so depressed she thought she was going to die. Raw emotions were clawing their way up her throat, desperate to break free from the prison she had tried to contain them in. She hugged herself tightly, trying to avoid falling over the edge she knew she was about to cross, but it did little to help her. "Everything is … fine." Flay repeated in a barely audible whisper. It was meant mostly for her than for anyone else to hear. An attempt to alleviate the sensation with words, not just actions.

During the very brief moment the words made it easier, she looked closely into Jack's eyes, expecting them to look at her with that dreadful emotion of pity. Seeing a girl so vulnerable, instantly led to her being pitied. She had seen that look in Sai's eyes and she had also seen it in Kira's. However, she didn't see even the slightest trace of it in Jack's. He was watching her with mild curiosity and confusion. It was that pitiless look, the complete lack of any sympathy or concern that made her realize it. He didn't pity her. At least one person on the entire ship was not looking down on her.

Then it became worse, much worse. Held back by the brief barrier, the pent up emotions had had enough time to build up strength and burst forward like a mountain river, easily smashing aside the dam that was Flay's self-control. Tears started flowing from her eyes, staining her cheeks and wetting her fingers when Flay tried to wipe them off. The tears turned out to be nothing more than the prelude of the nervous breakdown. Her sobs, unhindered by any attempts, soon turned into a desperate, agonized scream. Then came another one and another one. Kneeling on the ground, with her forehead pressed against the cold floor and fingers digging into her scalp, Flay screamed and cried without any constraint. She was barely able to draw a breath between the screams only for the fresh air to leave her lungs a second later in the form of another scream that left her throat raw and sore, as if she had swallowed a handful of razor blades.

Anger, fear, hate, despair, love, sorrow and many other emotions poured themselves out of the girl. All the emotions she had tried to hold back ever since Heliopolis. The fear of dying. Anger for her helplessness. Sorrow of losing her father. Hate for the ones who had killed him. Despair of being completely alone. Her love for… Another scream forced its way through her already abused throat. Only when she had no strength at all, did Flay stopped screaming. She simply wept in helpless desperation. Hoping, begging for it to stop. However, the tears did not stop. They flowed from her eyes in a seemingly endless flow, leaving her empty and numb.

She had no idea for how long she had been on the floor. Just like her emotional state, time had become chaotic and appeared to be flowing with varying speeds. But eventually, she heard rapid footsteps heading towards her. She felt someone place their hands around her shoulders and say something. She couldn't make out what; she did not have the strength to listen. The unknown person released her and appeared to be talking to someone as the sounds of at least two different voices reached her ears. A second later, a pair of strong arms picked her up from the floor and carry her towards an unknown destination.

At first, she stiffened, but eventually the feeling of anger overwhelmed her. She didn't want to be carried. She just wanted to be left alone. She didn't need any help! Flay tried to protest, but her overwrought throat was unable to turn her breath into words and resulted in a pair of weak, incomprehensible sounds crossing her lips. She tried to fight her way out of the person's grip, but it was too strong. Whoever was holding her was damned strong and seemed not to feel any of her fruitless attempts of escaping. Flay had no idea who this person was, her eyes were still full of tears and made it impossible to see clearly. Eventually she gave up; she had no strength to fight against it anymore. She just wanted it to stop. She simply wanted everything to go away. She just wanted to… Her eyes slowly closed shut; her over strained nerves slowly lulled her into the comfortable embrace of unconsciousness. However, just before darkness overwhelmed her, her eyes had dried up enough for her to get a single look.

The image of the Dingo, standing proud and tall, displaying its bright colors for everyone to see, took up the majority of the image. Down between its feet, there was another silhouette, leaning against the railings. The silhouette was looking at her with a slightly curious and confused expression. _Jack. _A single thought shot through her mind. He hadn't moved from his place. He was not the one carrying her.

xxxxx

"It was supposed to be a short break. Ten minutes tops. So why the hell are we still resting more than three hours later? We have a job to do, if you remember." Yzak glared at the black haired girl browsing through what looked like a pile of tiny beads. He crossed his arms for additional effect, but it dawned to him that the gesture was wasted since Juliet wasn't looking at him.

Just like he had mentioned, their short break turned out into a three and a half hour shopping spree. Though truth be told, there wasn't much shopping going on. Something he was thankful for. He had heard stories about girls storming numerous shops as if they had carte blanche and leaving them with enough clothes to dress an entire family. How they managed to carry or where did they put all the things they bought was beyond him. Fortunately Juliet didn't seem to be that type. She had only bought a few things despite the confusion her gold coins had caused at first.

So far she had purchased a black leather belt for her shorts. The belt was a purely decorative piece of accessory, since it hung loose in the loops and didn't even attempt to fulfill the role it was made to do. The second purchase was a pair of shades. Another object with no practical use whatsoever. The round, mirrored lenses were too small, in Yzak's opinion, to provide adequate protection from the sun. Currently they were resting on the tip of Juliet's nose as she looked over them at a small bead she was inspecting. Or at least she was doing that until Yzak spoke. With a great deal of annoyance she turned her head towards him and replied. "The place you are talking about is a group of several piers, intended for private yachts and small boats. Pure recreation and nothing more. The previous shopkeeper told me that. Now stay quiet, I'm busy!" She focused her attention on the street vendor and his wares.

Yzak was about to say something about not sharing vital information, when his eyes fell on the last object Juliet had bought. He traced its movements and took a step back. The object of his concern was a rather heavy looking brass ring at the end of her braid. It did look nice, with the dark green middle, brass rims and similarly colored patterns weaving through the green field, however, it was also dangerous. Especially when someone like Juliet was wearing it. Due to her habit of rapidly swinging her head from side to side whenever she saw new things, the braid and the ring tended to act similar to a flail. Yzak had already felt the tip of her braid striking his mouth, cheek, chest, neck, throat and other locations earlier that day. He had no intentions to find out the potency of the weapon Juliet was carrying around. Hence the careful step back.

It did not, however, prevent him from continuing the conversation. "Why the hell you didn't tell me? We could be back at the hotel right now since that was the last place we were supposed to check today!"

"You didn't ask. Furthermore weren't you listening to the conversation? You were standing right next to me." Juliet replied and paid for a small paper bag, filled with two dozen glass beads. She wasn't using gold anymore; the change from the first time was more than enough for her to pay for the following items with Orb's currency. "It's not my problem you're not paying any attention to the surroundings."

"You two were talking about the weather and beaches, while you tried on all those belts!" Yzak hissed back. "How the hell was I supposed to stay sane without tuning out that bullshit you two were talking about?"

Juliet pocketed the small bag and turned to face him. "That's your problem, not mine. You were free to leave anyway; I'm not holding you in a leash." She pushed her shades back up with her middle finger, grinning when Yzak noticed the small detail.

"Leave you alone? Sure, why not? Of course then I would have a small problem of having to go look for you, since you'd be lost the second I'd take my eyes off you."

"Yeah, right." Juliet snorted. "Unlike you, I'm not an idiot. I know how to find my way."

"You got us lost three times during the five minutes you had the map. A map made for fucking tourists!" Yzak waved the item in question. "They don't get simpler than that! You have to be cartographically illiterate to get lost using this. Especially with all the important locations marked out." For the first time Juliet had nothing to say. Oh, he was fairly certain he was on the receiving end of a golden-yellow eyed death glare, but with the shades on, it was impossible to tell. At least they did something.

Not wanting to give her time to come up with a nasty reply and possible ruin his small victory, Yzak headed off. "Let's go. If we take this route, we'll be back at the hotel soon enough." He marked the approximate course, knowing very well that Juliet wasn't looking at it. He could hear her following close behind, which brought a wide grin on his lips. She was admitting her inability to read maps. Back in the Academy, even in his wildest dreams, Yzak hadn't imagined that something like this would help him win an argument.

With their minds full of savoring the victory or wallowing in defeat, depending whom you asked, neither one of them noticed a new problem until it was too late. The problem presented itself in the form of a hand being placed on Juliet's shoulder, as they were walking through the park.

"Excuse me; I could not help noticing that you two look like you're lost. It happens a lot with all so many tourists visiting our city, so how about I offer you some help, maybe show you around, hmm?"

Juliet slowly turned around and spotted the person talking to her. "Fuck off goldilocks!" She spat before her mind managed to come up with a proper response. In retrospect, the response wasn't actually that bad. Her pissed off mood was an excellent source for quick replies. It even allowed her to notice distinctive details about a person before they properly registered in her mind.

The person who had addressed her quickly withdrew his hand. He used it to brush aside the blond, curly hair from his eyes in order to mask the sudden startle he'd gotten when faced with the unexpected kind of response. "Excuse me?"

"What? You're deaf too? I said, fuck off goldilocks! I don't need your help." Juliet didn't feel the tiniest bit of guilt. She needed something to vent her anger on, and if a target willingly presented itself, she wasn't the one to argue; furthermore she wasn't the touchy-feely type. Having other people touch her was a surefire way of pissing her off. Besides, offering help was the last thing on this guy's mind. Maybe she couldn't read maps, but Juliet knew how to read people. Being able to read peoples' emotions and facial expressions was one of the reasons why she was such a dangerous opponent when it came to verbal sparring.

What she was able to read from his face, told everything he needed to know about this guy's intentions. Usually when someone offered help with that kind of look on his face it could only mean two things. Either the plan was to lure her and Yzak somewhere less private and rob them. Or else the plan was to convince Juliet to have fun with a different company. Especially if she appeared to be a tourist and, therefore, completely unaware of the local players. Juliet glanced at the two guys behind him. It was obviously the second possibility. All three of them looked like the type who had seen fights only on TV. There was no danger here.

The blond haired guy touched his hair again, a move that gave Juliet all the ammo she would need, and assumed an offended expression. "Why are you talking to me like that? I am simply offering my help. There is no need to be rude."

"Yes there is. The sole reason why you and your two goons are offering me help is because you hope that I'm so easily wooed that I'll look past those hideous abominations you three have for faces and be content with losing my pride by being seen with you in public." Juliet's blow landed quite nicely. All three of them looked like they'd been doused with cold water_. _Unfortunately for them she was just warming up.

"What the hell is going on here?" Yzak stepped up from behind. He looked at the opposition and instantly dismissed them as non-threatening.

"It's nothing. I'm simply having fun pointing out flaws in the locals. I only started, but there's a lot of ground to cover. I mean look at them! Three faces even a mother wouldn't love." Juliet snickered. "I assume you three always get paper bags for presents." Her words had little actual basis, as the three guys weren't ugly at all, in fact they were on the very opposite end of the scale. The extreme end. They were around her age, stood tall and straight, two of them were a little taller than her, whereas the one of them, a thin guy with black hair was quite a bit shorter. They all appeared to have spent some time at the gym, especially the redhead on the right, whose attempts of subtly showing off his muscles were downright pathetic and laughable. And all three of them sported what appeared to Juliet, even with her three hour experience, as the most expensive sets of designer clothes. In short, in the process of trying to look good, they had overdone it by a huge margin. However, despite their appearance, they gave her more than a few mild glares. Just like she had intended, Juliet had hit a nerve. Someone who put that much effort into effort into having an attractive appearance definitely had some self-esteem issues. The matters were made worse when Yzak looked them over with a slightly loathing look and chuckled at Juliet's words.

The leader placed a hand on his hip; an over exaggerated gesture that left Juliet and Yzak struggling to keep a straight face, and pointed his finger at Juliet. "How dare you! You obviously have no sense of style and class! I guess I made a mistake when I decided to offer you our company! … I shouldn't be surprised, someone like you can't probably appreciate the finer things in life! Just look at you! Where did you get those rags from? They don't even coordinated prop…"

"Is that lipstick?" Yzak suddenly dropped in.

"Lip gloss." The redhead replied. "Lipstick is for applying color to the lips, whereas lip gloss gives them a glossy luster." Unfortunately for them, his explanation made things worse.

"I don't know which one is more disturbing. The fact that you three are using it, or that you know the difference. What are you? Clowns or just some fucked up freaks?" Yzak looked nauseated.

"I don't need to listen to this crap from you, someone who walks around with dead skin tissue on the face. The only opinion I might actually listen to is that of a girl who can recognize high class and…" The blond leader was interrupted again when Juliet decided to go on the offensive.

"Hey, hey, pretty boys. Has anyone of you even been together with a girl? A real one not a blowup doll. Look over here." She bent slightly forward, revealing a bit of her cleavage and grabbed her breasts. "Do you even know what to do with these? Other than staring at them?" She grinned widely when she saw the look on their faces, especially when she gave her breasts a light squeeze.

"Why did you have to do that? Look at them; you just took away all the blood flow from their brains, they'll probably lose consciousness any second now." Yzak added his own firepower. It was time to finish this.

Juliet straightened herself and arched her eyebrows. "I think you're right … If you guys look like you're just about to blow, from a little thing like this, I wonder what you'll do when you actually get to the real thing?"

"I don' think they can do that." Yzak kept up the pressure, not letting them get off a single word. "They all probably traded away their balls for those ridiculous skintight pants."

"I'm not sure they had balls to begin with. There is no way such girly looking guys exist."

"Well, not naturally, you probably have to work real hard to reach this level. For example, look at that tan; I've seen fashion models with more natural looking tan. Could it be makeup?"

"Nah, probably the rub-on type." Juliet shook her head. "Though it makes me wonder, what kind of a person needs to have an artificial tan when they're living on a tropical island like this. It is impossible to remain pale. Maybe they're not from around here."

"You're probably right. Orb is supposed to have smart people living in it after all. Then again, every nation has a couple of…"

"Idiots?" Juliet provided. "Aren't they supposed to keep people like this off the streets? Must have been a mass breakout at the special needs center."

"Really special needs center. These guys are in a category of their own."

"Shut the hell up!" The blonde finally managed to get a word in. "You two can go fuck yourselves, you…"

"At least I'll get to experience something you never won't." Juliet shot back.

The guy looked at them, his glare filled with both anger and desperation from being unable to come up with a proper insult. "Fuck you!" He finally managed and turned around. His two friends followed him, sending their own glares over their shoulders now and then.

"You wish." Juliet yelled with a wide smile. She stretched herself, working out the tense spots in a few parts of her body and exhaled. "Ahh … like a nourishing balm to a wounded soul."

Next to her, Yzak sported a small grin of his own, also enjoying the small victory. "Pfff, such pussies. It was way too easy. Hardly any challenge at all."

"Yeah, they just kept handing us all the ammunition we would ever need to win this fight. They really have no experience at picking on others."

"I have to say, you really know how to pack a punch." Their eyes met for a brief moment and in that moment, for the first time, the feeling of comradeship and even slight mutual respect lit up inside them. "C'mon let's go, you rag covered creature."

"What was that? Did the ignorant scar faced thing actually say something?" Juliet returned and matched her steps with Yzak's. For a moment they simply walked, side by side, with satisfied grins on their faces. At least until the next argument two minutes later.

xxxxx

Surrounded by girls! Four girls, who were focusing their attention on him. It was a dream come true! Not only were the girls paying their attention to him, but they were very attractive too, Asagi, Julie, Mayura and Tao. He had lost count on how many times he had let his eyes wonder around and take in every detail he could spot. Considering that all four of them were wearing the same set of relatively tight clothes, it gave him a lot of details to feast his eyes on. There was just one problem. Daniel was outnumbered.

Usually he had to deal with only one girl at the time. Four were too many for him to handle. Not only that, but they were Mobile Suit pilots as well. They were fighters and though they didn't show it, they were capable of taking care of themselves. Another reason why Daniel found it hard to apply his seducing methods was the recent event with Cagalli. Finding out that she belonged to one of Orb's royal families and was practically a princess, drew a fat line across that path of relationships. She was so much out of his league it wasn't even funny. Therefore, heartbroken and frustrated, he was forced to cease his pursuit of Cagalli. As a result, it was no wonder Daniel was unable to perform his usual advances and pickup lines.

"Are you going to tell us anything, or are you going to stand there and stare at us?" Tao's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. The girl was sitting on a large crate, her legs kicking idly, as she stared down at him. Daniel looked at the black haired girl and narrowed his eyes in frustration. Unlike her colleagues, Tao wasn't using a folding chair, preferring to stay above everyone else. Not that it really bothered him, but the black haired girl was a bit confrontational and seemed to enjoy taking a few digs at him.

Feeling the expectant looks other girls gave him, Daniel found his mouth unusually dry. Nonetheless, he tried to come up with something. "Okay, I'm not exactly good at this stuff. I haven't done this before, so I don't know where to start."

"Well, why don't you start with telling us how many battles have you've been in? And what kind of enemies have you faced?" Asagi smiled reassuringly. She could plainly see that the boy was having real trouble of playing the teacher, so she made it easier for him by asking specific questions.

Daniel was thankful for the help. "Thanks. I can't recall the exact number, but I think it is around nine engagements in total. I have fought against GINNs, Bucues and DINNs, the mainstay of ZAFT forces. In addition there have been times when I had to fight off the four captured Gundams and one Armored Core." He replied with a fair hint of smugness. He felt even better when he felt their impressed glances on him.

Except for Tao. She narrowed her brown eyes and smirked. "You said you've only participated in battles, what I want to know is know many enemies have you actually defeated? For all we know you could be one of those guys who simply stays in the background."

"At least five." Daniel instantly replied. He had lost the exact count, but he was more than certain he qualified as an ace.

Unfortunately, his reply failed to bring admiration in Tao's eyes. "At least five? You don't look like a guy who could do something like that. What were you fighting? A bunch of brain dead retards?"

_Again with the retards. I don't suppose they have a Major for me to piss off around here as well. _Daniel felt his confidence drop. Didn't anyone believe in his skills? Sure, maybe he couldn't do the same things Kira could, but he was good enough. Hadn't he body-slammed that white AC off the Archangel in the last fight? The brief memory of him ducking under a quick laser blade slash and then using the moment to slam into the enemy flashed in front of his eyes and he found himself feeling less sting from Tao's words. "No, they weren't retards. A retard would not be able to move a Mobile Suit normally."

This comment earned him a glare from Tao and Mayura. As for Julie and Asagi, the two girls let out a short laugh when they realized that Daniel was merely responding to Tao's insult. It was not his intention to belittle them at all. Unfortunately Mayura and Tao weren't the sort to take insults lightly. They both were the tomboyish types and didn't take lightly to guys insulting them. Furthermore, despite Daniel being a boy, he was in trouble, even if he didn't notice it. Though they were just test pilots, all four of them could hardly be called helpless and defenseless. All four of them had taken a few martial arts classes, especially Tao and Mayura, and were capable of taking care of themselves in most cases. Before anything physical could happen, Asagi rose from her chair and stood in between Daniel and rest of the girls. "Okay, I think we should calm down a little. We're not here to insult each other. We're here to talk." Asagi waited a few moments for the tension to drop. Then she faced Daniel and smiled again. "I can clearly see that you've been in actual combat, Daniel and I believe what you said about those fights … So could you tell us how exactly does it feel to be in the middle of an actual fight?"

"I don't know." Daniel muttered. "I mean it's hard to say." He quickly added when Mayura didn't exactly bother to hide a derisive snort. He paused to collect his thoughts. "You see, it is hard to recall everything once it is over. You tend to remember bits and pieces. Usually those which were very important." He started pacing back and forth. Now that his mind was in gear, he finally started to understand what exactly these girls wanted to hear from him. "There are times when you can't even think clearly. You simply tend to react … Often you don't have time to consider everything; you just do the first thing that comes into your mind … Even though you tend to plan things in advance or try to work out a strategy, it's not going to work. I've tried it. Once that battle begins a whole bunch of things you didn't even imagine happening, suddenly comes at you all at once … The enemy suddenly pulls out a sword and charges you … A missile salvo comes down at you when you're about to finish off your enemy … more hostiles jump out behind you, or an ally calls for your help. Nothing is certain."

He was certainly on the roll now. He recalled more and more details and didn't hesitate to pour them out. "You have to be ready for anything. I do mean anything. In most cases you only manage to plan two, maybe four seconds in advance, and even then it depends on the situation … What the situation is at one moment, can rapidly change a second later, forcing you to change and adapt instantly … Furthermore, luck is also important. There have been moments I survived just by a fluke a mere one in a million chance, so if you have any mementos or charms, I advise to use them. You never know when it might come in handy."

Careful, as to not disturb him, Asagi sat back down. She spared a quick glance at her colleagues. All three of them were paying attention to Daniel. None of them even considered dropping a remark or a snide comment, as Daniel continued to share his experience, his impressions, observations and even emotions. As it would later turn out, the experience they learned that day would later play a huge role in their future.


	26. A Falling Star

The planet was blue! She couldn't believe her eyes. Earth really was blue! A gigantic, blue orb filling most of her sight. It was incredible. She had never seen so much blue in her life. Lena could only imagine what it would be like on the surface. It had to be wonderful. There was no other way. She made a decision to not just return here, but to actually land on the Earth's surface and explore as much as she could. After all, this was her new world.

"You like it?" Leonard's voice crackled through the radio, a smile evident in his voice. His AC, the Joker, trailing Lena's Proto Star, as they moved through space towards the designated coordinates. It wasn't long until their long journey would come to an end. Unfortunately, once the journey was over there was a very high chance of a battle taking place. Anthony was not someone who solved things peacefully. Furthermore, his AC, the Sangreal, made things worse. The Sangreal was a capable machine. A dangerous pilot and a dangerous machine. Lena gulped. It was a fearsome combination.

With a slight effort of her will, Lena turned her thoughts away from the near future and focused on the present. She cast another look at the blue orb. "Yes. I like it very much." It was only then she realized that some time had passed until she had given her answer, but Leonard didn't seem to mind. The short chuckle over the radio proved that.

"No wonder. You've probably been staring at it ever since you spotted it for the first time. Isn't that right, Blue Angel?" He used Lena's nickname, much to her embarrassment. She almost opened her mouth to tell him to stop calling her like that, but decided otherwise. Leonard wouldn't stop calling her like that no matter how many times she asked him to stop. Besides, the nickname was actually quite accurate. Lena loved the blue color. She had no idea why she liked it so much, only that she did. After all, her AC, most of her clothes, her belongings, everything was blue. Whether it was dark blue or sky blue it didn't matter. As long as there was a hint of blue in it, Lena loved it.

"Yes, Leonard. It is an amazing view." Lena admitted and, hesitatingly, turned her attention on the sensors to do a quick check for any nearby contacts. It was a futile action since the Joker had a much more sophisticated and powerful sensor array. If there was someone out there, Leonard would spot it long before she did. "Anything on the radar?" She decided to change the topic.

Leonard checked his radar and frowned. The sensors had just picked up a faint thermal reading on their extreme range. It was too far to get a proper read, but he was certain there was something in front of them. "Actually yes. I am getting a faint reading on the edge of the radar. We're too far for identification, but I think that's our guy. I doubt there's someone else here."

"It could be the people he is supposed to meet." Lena pointed out quietly.

"It is… no, wait!" As the distance between them decreased, more detailed readings started pouring in, he also slaved Proto Star's sensors to the Joker's so that Lena could take a look as well. "That's definitely a AC. I've seen this type of heat signature." Leonard was more than certain about the nature of the contact ahead of them. He searched his mind for more info. "From what I remember, the Sangreal's sensor range is much shorter than ours. I don't think he has spotted us yet. That means we have time to come up with a plan." Both ACs powered down their boosters and even retreated for a short distance, just to be sure. As expected, the Sangreal's pilot showed no signs of being aware of them. "Okay, so how are we going to do this?"

Lena clicked her tongue, an unconscious habit she often exhibited whenever she was deeply thinking, and tried to come up with a suggestion. "How about we try to solve this peacefully? Maybe we can convince him not to sell the data?"

"That won't work. Anthony's a friggin' lunatic. Who else paints their AC golden and calls it the Holy Grail? Talking is out of the option, he is not going to listen. Besides, talking will only distract us and with a guy like Anthony we can't afford to be distracted. The Sangreal's a heavy."

Leonard was speaking the truth, Lena had to admit. Anthony was known for his eccentric behavior and preference for shooting first and not bothering with the questions at all. Furthermore, just like Leonard had mentioned, the Sangreal was a heavy class AC. That meant lots and lots of armor and heavy weapons as well. Lena sighed. It looked like a battle was inevitable. "If he's in no mood to talk then I guess we're in for a fight … How are we going to do this?" Though she was a capable pilot, Lena often preferred Leonard calling the shots. His experience outmatched hers by almost forty years, which was something of a legend among Ravens since no one had survived for that long.

"I think we should split up and come in from two directions. Make a strafing run and see what happens." Leonard ran various possibilities through his minds. "Remember, this is going to be a battle of attrition. All that heavy armor will take some time for us to wear down. So just keep your distance and don't stop firing. Also, don't forget that we'll be fighting near the border where Earth's gravitational pull can become strong enough to pull you down … Oh, and one more thing. If I recall correctly, Anthony likes to equip his AC with a pair of heavy plasma cannons. Whatever you do, stay out of their line of fire. Those things are devastating." Leonard gave one last advice and ignited the boosters increasing the distance between them. "Give me a few minutes before you move in, got it?"

"Yes." Lena watched him leave and began her own preparations. She decided not to change her approach. Without Joker's help, she didn't know the exact location of the Sangreal. Only that the Proto Star was pointed towards it. With her decision made up, she ran a quick check of the systems and, seeing everything to be in order, relaxed. It was difficult. The anxiety was growing inside her and no amount of effort would shake it off. Despite this, Lena wasn't too concerned about it. It wasn't her first time going into battle, and it most certainly would not be the last. Or so she hoped.

As she was waiting for the moment to strike, Lena's eyes drifted to a small object, hanging from the ceiling of the cockpit. She raised her hand and touched the small trinket. It was a thin silver chain with a small blue opal attached to it. The necklace drifted in the weightless environment and coincidentally moved just out of her reach before she could touch it. Lena stared at the necklace and, with a heavy sigh, lowered her arm.

The necklace was the only thing that remained from her family. Everything else was gone, claimed by time and events surrounding the deaths of her family. At least that's what Leonard said. Lena had absolutely no memories of her family and everything she knew came from Leonard. There wasn't even a single picture of her parents, nothing other than the necklace. Though Lena had often asked Leonard what else he knew, he was very hesitant of addressing the subject and often spoke in circles without saying anything specific, during the times when Lena pressed the issue more than usual.

Setting the thoughts of her family aside for the moment, Lena decided she had given Leonard enough time and gunned the boosters, sending the Proto Star at the location she hoped the Sangreal was. Even as she recalled everything Leonard had taught her about AC combat, Lena was very concerned whether it would be enough. She had no doubts about her skill. No, the reason of her distress were the weapons. She threw a quick look at the shotgun and the two back mounted weapons and gulped. If they were to run out of ammo, she'd be in a lot of trouble. Losing the majority of her arsenal would give all the advantages to her opponent and when the opponent was a heavyweight class AC, this possibility was very real indeed. She had heard enough stories of Ravens spending all their ammunition in a fruitless effort of bringing down the heavily armored beasts. The source of these stories was very well known as the Scaled Micro-weave Fusing armor.

Shortened to SMF armor and colloquially pronounced as "Semf" armor, it was nothing short of a wonder. The protection it granted was supreme and more than capable of dealing with practically anything that was thrown at it. Furthermore, not only was it light, even regarded as featherweight, it also possessed qualities that to some seemed almost magical. It was due to this armor that Armored Cores had been given their name.

The technology behind the SMF armor was a combination of various scientific achievements. However, three of these achievements were the cornerstones of the armor and granted it most of its abilities. The key components of the armor were known as advanced reactive carbon nanotubes. A mixture of electroactive fibers and carbon nanotubes had yielded a rather unique fiber. Unlike most armor materials, this fiber was woven at a molecular level in order to form separate armor plates and proved much superior to anything Utopia had at that day.

However, the most amazing ability of this armor revealed itself when exposed to a certain type of current. At that moment the fibers literary fused together in a single piece, not only that, but the effect transferred to the surrounding plates as well, turning the numerous armor plates, covering the surface, into a single piece of armor. Also, when a tiny layer of electroactive mesh was applied to the surface of the underlying hull, the armor fused with the machine, literary becoming a part of it. This eliminated any need for rivets and welds since the armor was "glued" on to the surface.

This type of armor became known as Micro-weave Fusing armor and was widely used on the Pulverizer class machines. Even though the armor offered excellent protection, especially to energy type weapons, the designers were not satisfied. They wanted more. A few years later the SMF armor was born.

Using the same technology as its predecessor, the SMF armor, used exclusively on ACs, differed only in the fact that small scales of a special material were included in the weave. These scales, made from aggregated diamond nanorods, were actually harder than diamonds. In order to eliminate the brittleness, inherent in all types of diamonds, the designers had decided to make it a type of composite armor. Placing a new version of the Micro-weave Fusing armor fiber layer between two layers of the scales, in addition of crisscrossing the scales themselves with the fibers, so they could act as a shock absorber, meant that the new armor was capable of taking devastating kinetic strikes without failing.

In addition of the increased physical protection, the SMF armor also provided an even better protection against energy type attacks. Whenever a laser beam or a plasma bolt struck the armor, the layer between the scales reacted to the heat by contracting, bringing the two layers of diamond scales closer to each other. This meant that the following shots to the same location faced a double layered diamond which was all but immune to the punishing heat. Only relatively constant heat type attack, like that of a laser blade or beam, was able to penetrate the armor with any kind of effectiveness.

This function had a drawback however, the closer the scales were brought, the more brittle the armor became, as the padding between them became thinner. Until the armor had cooled off, this made the location increasingly vulnerable to sharp kinetic impacts. A lot of Ravens knew this and had found a way to deal with the toughness of the armor, especially on the heavy ACs who were known to carry up to five or six layers of SMF armor. The method was relatively simple. You had to shoot the AC with energy based weapons first, then, when the armor was all nice and brittle, shoot it to pieces with an ammunition based weapon. This was exactly the method Lena was planning to use against the Sangreal.

Any stray thoughts were dismissed when she picked up the Sangreal on her own sensors. The computer made a quick scan and instantly identified the AC. "AC Sangreal identified." The computer announced, the emotionless voice summoning a sensation of decisiveness inside Lena's chest. There it was. The time for thinking and consideration was over. Now she had to act.

A quick beep told her that the Proto Star had achieved a target lock. Without hesitation she let loose a salvo of micro missiles from the launcher behind the left shoulder. Though small and posing little threat separately, the micro missiles compensated for it by sheer numbers. Twenty missiles corkscrewed through space towards the target, leaving contrails of smoke behind them. Lena pulled sharply to the right and let loose a trio of rockets as well. She didn't expect the unguided rockets to hit, but she had to try.

True to her expectations, the Sangreal turned to face her and the incoming attack. Instead of using the MIA system, the Sangreal raised the heavy flamethrower it held in its left hand and unleashed a huge cone of pure plasma. The missiles and rockets were unable to endure for more than fractions of a second in the hellish heat and detonated with eerily silent flashes. A second later, red laser beams pierced the already diminishing explosion as Lena blindly fired the laser rifle at the Sangreal.

Unfortunately the Sangreal was already moving and therefore wasn't threatened in the slightest as the beams were aimed at the location he had occupied a few seconds ago. With the opponent this close, Anthony was finally able to identify who was attacking him. "The Proto Star? I'm under attack from the Blue Angel?" He laughed through the radio. "What, betraying Utopia's secrets aren't enough for you? You want to present your friends with a AC as well?" A long burst from the twin barreled 120mm machine gun in the Sangreal's right hand cut off Lena's path, forcing her to abruptly change her course.

Lena had to dodge a pair of plasma bolts from the Sangreal's back mounted 90mm heavy plasma cannons and another burst of machine gun fire before Anthony's words registered in her mind. "What! I'm not the traitor! You're the one…" She broke off when the Sangreal caught her off guard by suddenly darting towards her and hosing down her AC with the flame thrower. She frantically moved out of the way and managed to avoid most of the damage. The plasma cone didn't come even near of touching the Proto Star directly, but the heat was enough to melt the paint off the armor on the core and the right arm.

"You dare to accuse me of lying? How dare you!" Anthony yelled across the comms. He once again cut off the girl's retreat path by a pair of plasma bolts, forcing her to stay in his sights. Three laser beams lanced out of the rifle and struck the Sangreal's core. However, Anthony made sure to keep moving, so that the beams didn't expend their energy in a single point, not that it would hurt him much. He was about to unload his machine gun in a long burst that would have left the Proto Star heavily damaged, when the Joker finally arrived.

The arrival had a rather heavy announcement as the Joker let loose from all its weapons. Twinned laser beams, round after round of rifle fire, several cannon shells and even a pair of railgun slugs were fired at the heavy AC. For the first time it was the Sangreal that had to take active evasive maneuvers. It was too late for the laser beams; they struck even before Anthony could notice them. A deep gash opened up on the rear of Sangreal's left thigh. Most of the rifle rounds also connected, slamming into the AC's back with enough force to rattle the pilot inside. All three cannon shells missed since the Sangreal, already turning around, had narrowed its profile enough to avoid them. One of the slugs missed as well, but the last one struck true. Unfortunately it connected with the most heavily armored part of the AC. The front of the core. In addition of the thick armor, the Sangreal's parts were somewhat roundish, granting them additional deflecting power. As a result, the round ricocheted off the armor and disappeared into the vastness of space.

The Sangreal replied instantly, filling the space with machine gun tracers and occasional plasma bolts. Few rounds nicked the Joker here and there, but the damage was minor. Further attacks were rendered useless when Lena let loose another missile salvo and forced the Sangreal to back off. She used the opportunity to back off as well; staying even relatively close to the golden AC was the last thing she wanted.

"I thought we agreed to stay far away from that guy! Why the hell were you fighting him that close?" Leonard admonished, while dodging another attack. He returned fire with both hand weapons, but even though they struck the target, they did very little damage.

"Sorry, he caught me off guard." With a rapid burst, Lena fired off six rockets and, once the weapon had reloaded, she fired six more. Large explosions sent armor shards in all directions as the Sangreal didn't even bother to dodge. Though impressive looking, the explosions did very little damage. "How long will it take to bring him down!"

"Don't worry, just keep working, we'll wear him down eventually."

Lena was about to do as she was told when her conversation with Anthony suddenly surfaced in her mind. "Leonard, I think something's wrong." She said during a brief moment of calmness. "He thinks we're the ones selling the technology."

The Joker's pilot spared a quick glance at her and frowned. "What the hell are you talking about? You sure you didn't overh… Whoa!" The brief interruption cost him. A plasma bolt struck the Joker's left forearm. "Fuck!" Leonard cried when the alarms went off. The laser blade was gone, so was most of the armor and several internal systems. The temperature instantly shot up, frying a few more circuits and mechanisms. "Damn it! It doesn't matter, just keep fighting." He retreated a short distance and gave a more thorough check to the reports. The hand was still working fine. It only jerked a few times when he moved it, but the computer made all the necessary corrections and adjustments, and rerouted the control system around the damaged sections. Satisfied that he hadn't lost his rifle, Leonard turned his attention back to the fight. He couldn't leave Lena alone for too long. "What the hell are you doing!" He said when he saw the Proto Star staying out of the Sangreal's effective range and making no threatening movements.

"We have to talk to him. It is wrong to be fighting just because of some misunderstanding." Lena replied as she worked on the comms. "Anthony, can you hear me? We want to talk to you."

"What is it now? Have the two traitors had enough? The fight was just starting." Anhony replied, shifting the Sangreal so that he could keep an eye on both of them. "If that's true, then hold still. I'll make it quick." The two plasma cannons on the back oriented themselves on the Proto Star.

"Wait! There has been a mistake! We were told that you are the one selling Utopian technology to Earth." Lena quickly replied and gripped the controls so tight that they almost snapped off, or so she thought. "Someone wants us to fight each other." Anthony fell silent, obviously considering her words. Lena herself was on a similar track. It was clear that they've been lied to. The client, probably the same person in both cases, wanted them to fight each other. The answer was, why? Why would someone want that?

As if by accident the Joker started slowly drifting towards a spot where it would be outside the Sangreal's immediate sights. Unfortunately, Anthony was a savvy bastard and adjusted his position accordingly. "Lena, I highly recommend you to stop talking and just shoot the guy. It's not going to work." Leonard said slowly, when the Sangreal once again turned enough to keep the weapons oriented on him.

"We can solve this without fighting." Lena shook her head. "There has been a misunderstanding and no one should die for something like that. Trust me; I think I can solve this."

"You can't. Even if what you're saying is true, and someone has set us up, it won't work. Our mission is to destroy the Sangreal. Furthermore, whoever hired Anthony knew what they were doing. Anthony is not the type to negotiate. He won't stop. He's a lunatic!"

As if by summoned by his words they both received a response from Anthony. It was a series of short chuckles, eventually turning into a long laugh. The increasing tone of insanity strongly pervading it. "To think that you two would fall as low as to try and distract me by these pathetic lies. Lying is the most grievous of sins! … Still, I will offer you two a chance to redeem yourselves. You two shall be tested by the ancient laws of combat. If you win, you will be proven innocent and absolved of all taint … If I win, then deaths shall be your punishment!" With these words he opened fire at both of them, forcing Lena and Leonard to dodge and weave as best they could to avoid taking damage. They were lucky, being forced to split his attention between the two of them Anthony was unable to get a proper aim.

Lena gritted her teeth when a very bright plasma bolt nearly took off the Proto Star's head. She threw the AC to the side and replied with both back mounted weapons. Once again smoke erupted from the two launchers as missiles and rockets were fired at the enemy, but once again her attack was useless. What Anthony didn't shoot down, he avoided with pathetic ease. "I should have switched to guided missiles." Lena watched the rockets streak into the void. She wanted to try and talk again, to find a peaceful solution, but part of her understood that Anthony was beyond reason by now. The only way he could be stopped was to pump enough firepower into the Sangreal to render it useless and destroyed.

Once again she had to focus more attention on staying alive when the Sangreal tried to repay for the attack. The blue AC maneuvered with all its might and agility, and was barely able to stay out of the torrent of munitions and bolts that streamed from the Sangreal. Still, despite her efforts, Anthony was slowly boxing her in. His attacks missed by increasingly narrower margins. It was only a matter of time until he landed a solid blow. For a lightweight AC like hers a single, good blow might be more than enough.

Lena was saved when Leonard used the opportunity to strike with precision. The back of the Sangreal's head exploded in a fiery fashion after a combination of a cannon shell and a railgun slug impacted it almost simultaneously. Two thirds of the part ceased to exist, what little remained was still holding on to the core. Barely. The triple camera visor flickered and died, along with all other sensors mounted in the head, turning it into a worthless piece of junk.

Still, the Sangreal was far from disabled. There were backups. Though not as sophisticated as the main ones, they did their job and allowed Anthony to stay in the fight. Maddened by the humiliating blow, he forgot about Lena and started pursuing the Joker, determined to rip the machine in half at the very least.

It took only a second for Lena to realize the chance before her. Apparently Leonard was thinking the same thing, since he didn't bother attacking and focused only on defense. Their victory revolved around teamwork. By working in pairs they could bring him down fairly quickly. The key was to land a strong blow and draw Antohny's attention, so that the other person could use the moment to line up an attack of their own. That way, using Anthony's impulsive nature by forcing him to constantly change targets, they could aim and fire practically undisturbed.

With the plan laid bare before them, Lena and Leonard started moving with newfound determination. It was a series of moments of intense dodging, followed by careful attacks that turned the battle in their favor. One by one, new dents and holes appeared on the Sangreal's armor as they slowly whittled it down. Even though Anthony tried not to completely ignore the other Raven, he was losing the fight. Furthermore, for the first time, the heavy armor and weaponry was becoming a handicap. The Sangreal's boosters were not built for speed and agility. He could not run away, or evade their attacks as effectively as he wanted. Fortunately for him, the one-sided battle didn't last long.

Since the Joker sported the most powerful sensors, Leonard was the first to pick up a new contact heading towards them. "What the hell? Is that Anthony's contact?" For a second he thought he was right, but he was forced to change his thoughts a moment later. The contact was very similar to their own, meaning it was a AC. "Lena, be careful. We got company." He warned and prepared himself for the new arrival. Whether it was friendly or hostile, he had no idea, but if it was another Raven then it could only mean trouble. He watched the unknown AC move closer and took a deep breath. _Okay, c'mere ya bastard and we'll see what you can do._

What followed next had him yelling over the radio at the top of his lungs, ordering Lena to get away as far as possible. He then opened fire at the newcomer, attempting to force the machine to change its course, as it was heading straight for the two ACs, locked in a fierce battle and having no idea of the imminent threat. His attempts were fruitless. Even though his shots missed only by margins, they still missed. The pilot of the AC seemed to be able to predict the exact location where Leonard would land his shots and act accordingly.

Anthony seriously started to believe that his luck was beginning to turn. The Proto Star, after putting immense pressure on him, suddenly just broke off and tried to pull out, despite being in a perfect position to take out his back mounted cannons. For a moment he suspected that it was some kind of a trap on Leonard's part, but when he glanced at the light blue and teal AC, he was surprised to see it keep its distance. Hell, even the weapons weren't pointed at him. He frowned, his mind busy trying to figure things out. However, the sudden change of his opponents' actions was made very clear, very soon.

Since the Sangreal's head was little more than a chunk of twisted metal, Anthony had no chance of avoiding the attack. At least a dozen different alarms blared at him when a red laser blade bit into the Sangreal's right arm. The magnetic field of the blade collapsed immediately and exposed the armor to a beam of very intense light. The armor plates melted and parted way before the weapon, as it made its way through the AC's arm. The blade even left a deep gash on the right side of the core, almost penetrating deep enough to endanger the internal systems. Fortunately, the attacker used the very tip of the blade, so it wasn't long enough to penetrate deeper than that. Still the damage was done. Anthony howled in anger when he saw the lower half of the Sangreal's right arm sailing off into space, still clutching the machine gun. He searched for the one responsible for this attack and spotted his target almost instantly, as it stopped a short distance away from him, allowing everyone to get a good look.

"Nine-Ball? … It can't be!" Lena suddenly felt her heart jump in her throat. "Wh-what is Hustler One doing here?" She easily recognized the dark red AC, even without the computer's help. All Ravens knew that AC and all Ravens feared it. Hustler One was one of the most dangerous and skilled pilots in existence. A living legend.

Despite it being just a machine, the look the Nine-Ball gave to each AC was unsettling. The look spoke of amusement and contempt. The pilot clearly saw them as prey. Three little mice cornered by a cat. "Excellent, all three pieces have gathered together." A disguised voice sounded across the general channel. "Now, all that remains is to make sure you play your roles properly." The AC ignited a long, red laser blade from the left forearm. None had any doubts about what that role was.

As one, they all opened fire on the Nine-Ball. Even Lena, who often tried a diplomatic solution at first, was firing as quickly as she could. She knew that there was no way she could resolve the situation. Hustler One's voice had given her all the warnings she needed. There were only two options for them. Win or die.

By the time the three ACs raised their weapons, the Nine-Ball was already moving, it's weapons firing with deadly efficiency. A sweep of a laser blade took care of the Proto Star's missiles and rockets, whereas the 155mm cannon round sent the Sangreal tumbling backwards, a trail of flame leaking from a hole in the right side of the core. Whirling out of the way, just as Leonard pressed the trigger, the red AC avoided the Joker's entire attempt to cause damage. A salvo from the vertical missile launcher distracted the Proto Star and the recovering Sangreal long enough for the Nine-Ball to reach its target.

It was only thanks to four decades of experience that saved him. In the two seconds it took for the Nine-Ball to reach the Joker, Leonard managed to weigh his options and come up with a solution he thought was the best. He couldn't use the back mounted weapons to ward off the attacker. The cannon worked a little too slow for someone of Hustler One's caliber, whereas the railgun was still reloading. Running away was also out of the option, he just wasn't fast enough. There was only one way out of this, to do something unexpected and, truth be told, almost suicidal.

With only fractions of a second left, and his enhancements working at full speed, Leonard gunned the boosters and counter charged the Nine-Ball. As expected, Hustler One was not surprised by his maneuver. The laser blade came into existence once again; ready to impale the seemingly suicidal AC. However, that's where the unexpected part came into action. At the very last moment the Joker swung the left arm and hurled the rifle at the Nine-Ball. The rifle's demise was signaled by a brief flash of a laser blade cutting its way into the metal. A brief moment later, a violent explosion took place when the blade cut into the magazine and detonated the remaining ammunition. The force of the explosion was strong enough to disrupt the Nine-Ball's movements and force it to change course.

Leonard, however, kept gunning the boosters for all they were worth and blitzed towards the Proto Star. The explosion did little more than slightly rattle his machine. He was too far and had been already prepared for the detonation to be noticeably affected. With a corner of his eye Leonard saw the Nine-Ball make a wide curve and charge towards them with all the speed it could muster. The AC wasn't firing any of its ranged weapons despite the high probability of a hit. Instead, the left forearm was cocked back, the laser blade leaving behind a short tail of afterimages. Leonard had seen enough of such maneuvers to instantly realize what was about to happen. This kind of approach was often used to make a lightning quick melee attack during as the AC passed its target. The effectiveness of the attack varied from pilot to pilot; however, in this case Leonard was more than certain that the attack would land. He had no idea who was the target and he didn't want to find out. Instead, he hoped his plan would ensure their survival. At least for a moment.

Having to follow the movements of the Sangreal, the Joker and the Nine-Ball made things very difficult for Lena. Even though Nine-Ball was the obvious threat, there was no telling what Anthony might do. Shooting her in the back wasn't a thing she would put past him. As for Joker, it never hurt to know where Leonard was, so that she wouldn't get in his way at the very least. Since most of her attention was focused on the Nine-Ball, she didn't notice the Joker until it was right next to her. A second later, Lena yelped in surprise when Leonard's AC reached out and grabbed the Proto Star by the left shoulder, dragging her along as he fled the battle.

"C'mon, we're pulling out! This entire situation is completely fucked up and I'm not willing to hang around while that guy is nearby." Leonard explained just as Lena opened her mouth to demand an explanation. He was still thinking about where exactly to run, but for now, his main task was to get as far away from the fight as possible. "Be ready with your boosters. I don't have a lot of power left, so you'll have to switch with me while I recharge." He also made a mental note to add an Overboost system to his AC as soon as possible. The increased weight might hurt a little, but it was a fair trade-off for times like this when speed meant survival.

"What about the mission? And what about Anthony? Are we going to leave him to die?" Lena couldn't take her eyes off the Sangreal. The golden AC was busy fending off another one of the Nine-Ball's attacks while trying to run away at the same time. He didn't have much success in either regard. The Sangreal wasn't built for speed; running away from a battle was something the heavy machine was very bad at. Whereas staying to fight Hustler One promised even fewer chances of success. Either way, his survival was measured in minutes at most.

Leonard gritted his teeth in frustration. Lena was a nice girl, but there were times when she cared about people who didn't deserve it. Even now, despite the fact that Anthony had tried to kill them, she was worried about him and would have probably tried to help if Leonard wasn't around. "Such thoughts will get you killed, Lena. Anthony is our enemy, we were hired to destroy him. And he was probably hired to kill us. I'm not helping that guy only to be shot in the back later. As for Hustler One, he's here to kill all of us. And he is not someone I'd like to face without some serious preparations. In short, if we fight, we'll have to face both of them. If we run away, we'll lose Hustler One and Anthony will be killed, whereas Hustler One will achieve whatever he has planned for us. That way everybody wins, except Anthony." There was an awfully long silence, as Lena digested his words. He wasn't worried however, despite her caring nature; Lena always picked the logical choice when presented with facts like these. She wouldn't like it, but in the end she would do as he had suggested.

Just like he expected, the second he shut down his boosters, in order to cool down the generator, the Proto Star ignited its own boosters and continued in the same direction. "So where are we heading?" Lena asked quietly. "Back to Circ-City?"

"No, Circ-Cty is out of the question. Most likely Hustler One will be waiting for us there and we are in no condition to fight him. No, we're heading to the one place he won't be able to find us so easily." The Joker pointed at the planet below. "We're landing on Earth."

"What? Earth? Are you serious? We'll be on our own once we land. No supplies, no repair facilities and no transportation. We won't survive, especially if the natives come after us."

"It's either that or being killed by that bastard over there!" Leonard retorted. "Right now is our best chance, if we start landing right now; he won't be able to land anywhere near us. And don't worry, we'll think of something."

Lena sighed and chewed her lip. Leonard was right again. Landing on Earth was the only real chance of survival they had, especially when Hustler One seemed to be after them. Staying in space meant only delaying the inevitable as he would hunt them down without mercy. Going to the Moon was risky, no one on Circ-City had any idea about the satellite's development level and Lena had no intention of touring the Moon right now. Not in the current situation. Therefore Earth will have to do.

Slowly and cautiously, she released the Joker and angled her AC towards the planet, and, after a brief conversation with Leonard, entered the landing coordinates. They were aiming for the Eastern part of the largest landmass. More chances of landing in a remote location without attracting too much attention, thus giving them time to work out a plan of action and familiarizing themselves with Earth's environment. She tightened her grip around the controls and found herself holding her breath as the Proto Star's sensors detected a steady increase of a gravitational pull. No turning back now. Though ACs were capable of entering the atmosphere all by themselves, such feats had already been accomplished back home, they were unable to reach orbit without aid. Their generators unable to provide the necessary power long enough.

Still, despite heading into a potential deathtrap, Lena realized that a small smile had replaced her frown. She was going to the blue planet after all!

xxxxx

Hustler One took a careful aim and snapped off a few beams from the carbine. Each shot further wrecking the rear boosters of the Sangreal. Overkill perhaps, but he was in no mood to chance it. Not after this kind of a disaster. He watched the golden AC getting slowly engulfed in flames as gravity pulled it closer to the surface of Earth and smiled. Despite the damage, the AC would make it down to Earth in one piece. Sure, maybe smashing into the ground at terminal velocity might break it up a little, but the remains would still be more than useful enough.

Too bad the same thing could not be said about the pilot. Anthony was probably already cooking inside the cockpit due to three, carefully placed holes in the hull. Result of masterful stabs, made with near surgeon's accuracy. After all, the Sangreal had to be as intact as possible, especially when it came to the internal systems. Therefore he had to be extra cereful, making the hole too big, or placing it in the wrong location, might cause the interior of the cockpit to burn and be rendered useless. Which would be counterproductive to his mission.

Despite the success, Hustler One felt the sour taste of defeat in his mouth. There were supposed to be three ACs falling down, not one. He looked at his sensors, hoping he could still locate the two machines, but he saw what he already knew. They were gone. He cursed himself for not going after them immediately when they had begun their run almost thirty minutes ago. Considering that the Sangreal was practically immobile when it came to speed, there was a fair chance he would have caught the Sangreal after he had taken care of those two.

Then again, Lena and Leonard weren't exactly pushovers. They knew their way around the cockpit and worked well enough together to pose danger even for someone like him. Especially Leonard, whose experience as a pilot surpassed almost every other pilot out there. Few people had the skills, and luck, to survive that long. The guy had piloted every type of Muscle Tracer there was. Form the clunky and ungainly first generation models, to the recently developed ultra-modern Cored Muscle Tracers.

After giving it a second thought, Hustler One realized that maybe allowing those two to escape wasn't such a bad move after all. Had he gone after them, they would have gone down fighting. And even though he knew he would eventually emerge victorious, he also knew that the Nine-Ball would be in need of repairs. That he could not afford. He had other things to take care of.

A thick trail of fire erupted from the Sangreal's side as the AC hurled towards the inevitable meeting with the ground. He zoomed in and sighed. "Looks like they'll have to make due with just one … At least this gift from heavens will direct them down the right path. Assuming they will manage to unlock its secrets." A sudden thought crossed his mind and he found himself smiling. "The Sangreal … Holy Grail. An apt name. Relic that uncovers itself only to those who are worthy to learn its secrets. Let's hope you people are worthy enough. Or else I'll have to try a more direct approach."

For a brief instant, he felt guilty for using fellow Ravens in order to achieve his goals. However, he shook such thoughts aside. All of this was needed. Sacrifices had to be made. Technology had to be passed on. The corporations were not interested in sharing the technology with Earth. They wanted to profit from selling it. They were working slowly, and solely for their own goals. They failed to see the big picture. Earth was on the doorstep of a new period of enlightenment. Ever since the day Circ-City had come to Earth, it had been made very clear. The signs were everywhere, painfully obvious to all who knew what to look for. All it needed was a little push. And, hopefully, a beat-up, flaming AC with a dead pilot inside would provide the necessary impact as it crashed into the surface of the planet.

With another phase of his task completed, Hustler One focused his attention on the next one. The Nine-Ball's boosters disgorged a pillar of blue light, as the AC blitzed across the endless void towards a destination only the pilot, and few others were aware. It was time to check whether or not a certain package had reached its destination.

xxxxx

"Captain! Captain! You are needed on the bridge! We have a problem!" A loud voice, crackled through the ancient intercom, interrupting the peaceful slumber of the most important man aboard the ship. Captain Vitaly Kurov rubbed his eyes and sat up. His other hand slammed down on the intercom with enough force to rattle the entire ship, at least he thought so.

Sporting the pissed off mood all proper high ranking officers possessed when woken up by their underlings, Vitaly leaned closer to the intercom and made sure his voice sounded properly angry. "What the hell do you think you're doing, calling me at a time like this? Who is this? Ensign Tretyak? I'll turn your life into a fucking hell if…"

"No Captain, this is Ensign Semonov. Ensign Tretyak is still in the brig, as per your orders." The fact that this Ensign had the balls to actually interrupt him, the Captain, caught Vitaly by surprise. It also served as a warning sign that something serious was going on. No member of his crew was stupid enough to wake him up in the middle of the night for anything less than a received message about his promotion to an Admiral or an incoming nuclear missile. Due to neither one of them likely to ever happen, due to his attitude or N-jammers, Vitaly was used to long nights of uninterrupted sleep. "I'm sorry to bother you, but we picked up a UFO on our radar. Analysis on the object's trajectory leads us to believe that it entered our sensor range from the orbit and will impact the ground in less than five minutes."

Vitaly mulled the whole situation over inside his head, unable to quickly decide whether this situation warranted him leaving his cabin or not. In the end, he decided that it was worth checking out. "Fine, try to predict the point of impact, I'll be there shortly."

"Understood, Captain." The Ensign replied, before Vitaly managed to cut the conversation short. With all thoughts of sleep banished from his mind, he got out of his bunk bed, and quickly got dressed. The procedure was short, since he only had to don his jacket and get into his shoes. Though he was technically supposed to be on the bridge at this hour, he considered himself too important to waste his precious time watching a bunch of Ensigns. Let the mere mortals be bound by something as insignificant as shifts and routine duties. He had better things to do.

Feeling that he was presentable enough, Vitaly stepped out of the cabin, careful to remember to power his head in order to avoid hitting the low doorframe, and proceeded to walk towards the bridge in a brisk walk. His path soon lead him past the single thing that pissed him off even more than incompetent underlings. Upon the grey wall several white letters were painted on, and together they read "Unsinkable". The ship's name.

Vitaly had no idea who was the jackass that came up with the name, but he promised himself that he would eventually find out who this person was and then throw the guy into the Unsinkable's brig to rot. Not only did the name sound like something of a cheap movie, or some sort of a joke, but, more importantly, the ship's name was tempting fate. From his experience Vitaly knew that no one, especially fate, liked showoffs. You had to keep a low profile if you wanted to avoid trouble.

On a second thought, the Unsinkable was not a bad name. If the ship was a badass aircraft carrier, or some prototype battleship with near indestructible armor. Basically any kind of ship that was tough as hell and hard to sink. However, there was a problem. His ship, the Unsinkable, was a frigate. A lone frigate, almost helpless against a serious enemy attack. Especially one involving Mobile Suits. While the Unsinkable had a lot of friends to call for help, Vitaly wasn't a fool. His ship was far too ahead of the main fleet for decent help to arrive in time.

Acting as part of a vanguard for an Eurasian convoy, the Unsinkable was one of many vessels sent ahead of the large convoy of transport ships in order to search for any hostiles. And even though they were near the Marshall Islands, practically the edge of the area ZAFT vessels usually operated in, they were still in danger. There was always the chance of stumbling on an enemy submarine carrier, sent out to harass and raid the Alliance's ships. The convoy was bound for Alaska, bringing reinforcements for the JOSH-A base in order to replace the previous garrison which was supposed to be moved to Porta Panama.

Vitaly shook his head in sympathy. _Those poor fools_. He recalled the rumors that were floating around among the Alliance's military leaders. Rumors that spoke of a massive attack being prepared by ZAFT. An attack that was supposed to hit the Panama base and take out the Alliance's last mass driver. He considered that he was probably lucky to be assigned to JOSH-A. A simple guard duty with lots of free time. It was much more enjoyable than being placed under the hammer and probably dying a horrible death.

Gloomy thoughts about unfortunate comrades were set aside the moment he entered the bridge. Not bothering to return the salutes of the crewmembers, Vitaly marched straight across the bridge where a nervous Ensign was preparing to answer his questions. "Well? I'm here. What do you have for me?" Vitaly crossed his arms and stood right behind the Ensign's chair, both to make him even more nervous and to get a better look at the displays.

The Ensign swallowed nervously, wiped his forehead and took a deep breath before replying. "Sir, we calculated the trajectory just like you told us and it looks like the object will come down a little under eighty kilometers to North-east from us in a couple of minutes. The point of impact is projected to be somewhere in the Marshall Islands region." He pointed outside the window. "The object entered visual range a few moments before your arrival." Vitaly walked towards the indicated window, noting that others were sneaking glances outside as well, and took a look himself. It didn't take long for him to spot a bright object streaking across the skies. Though it seemed to be moving slowly Vitaly understood that, due to the distance involved, the appearance was deceitful. "Are you sure it's not a meteor or some piece of junk from the Debris Belt?"

"That was our first guess as well, sir. But the absence of additional objects crosses that possibility out. In addition, most of the stuff from up there would simply burn in the atmosphere." The Ensign replied more confidently since Vitaly wasn't breathing on his neck anymore. The fact that the Captain was not yelling at anyone and seemed to be genuinely intrigued by the situation, presented him with an opportunity to climb a few spots higher on the Captain's "doesn't deserve to be abused" list. "Sir, we did some scans and came up with rather interesting results." He was aware of the glares others were giving him, but he didn't care. This was his chance of getting on the Captain's good side and he was determined to make the best of it. Survival of the fittest.

Still looking outside Vitaly tapped a finger against the window. "I'm listening."

"Yes, now, first of all the object is radiating a lot of heat. A lot more than atmospheric entry could account for. We also picked up a pair of intense heat flares coming from it in what looked like a controlled fashion as if something was released from inside which makes us to believe that it is man-made and still functioning, to some degree." He paused for a brief moment before the best part. "Additional scans on the object's dimensions indicate that the object's size is around fifteen to twenty meters."

"Are you saying that it might be a Mobile Suit?"

"Yes. I even compared the data with those we have from engagements involving orbital drops and the characteristics turn out to be very similar to a destroyed Mobile Suit falling from skies. Of course the heat flares are something new."

"Another thing that's new is a Mobile Suit falling from skies without reason." Vitaly pointed out. "We know that Mobile Suits can't survive atmospheric entry. Therefore, we can rule out the possibility that this is just some luckless bastard from an engagement in orbit. However, since there aren't any other Mobile Suits around and there are certainly no signs of combat. That eliminates the chance of it being shot down from somewhere nearby … Whatever it is, we know that it is most likely a Mobile Suit, capable of atmospheric entry. Or at least a partial one." He turned his gaze back to the crew, his face deadly serious. The situation was much more serious than he had imagined. No matter which way he looked at it, there was something strange going on. He had to call this one in. "You." He looked at the Communications Officer. "Contact the rest of the fleet and tell them what's going on here. Also, make sure to inform Colonel Dussart. This sounds like something right up his alley."

xxxxx

Once the message reached the main body of the fleet, the reaction was rather predictable. Excitement, suspicion, eagerness and nervousness permeated throughout the ranks of senior officers. Eventually, after heated debates and several arguments the decision was made. Part of the convoy would be sent to investigate this event, which many hoped, was a chance of capturing a highly advanced piece of technology for themselves. It was about time the Eurasian Federation attempted to join the technological race after having to trail after PLANTs, Orb and, as rumors said, even the Atlantic Federation.

Once the decision had been made, the Unsinkable received a new set of orders. Their mission of scouting the waters for danger was over. Now they had to reach the crash location, assess the situation, and report back. Afterwards the ship was to start exploring the region for additional information, as well as any possible hostile movements in case ZAFT tried to reclaim their property.

However, moments after part of the convoy changed its course and headed straight to Marshall Islands, another important message was sent. Although small and practically unnoticeable among the communications traffic going in and out the region, this message's contents far outweighed anything else. The information it contained was as deadly as any weapon in the right hands. And if used incorrectly, it could lead to a disaster of extreme proportions. The reason why this message was so important was that it was sent by someone who was not truthfully loyal to the Eurasian Federation. Someone, who was determined to inform the Atlantic Federation of the night's events.

Lastly, unknown to anyone aboard the Eurasian ships, their actions did not go unnoticed by another set of eyes. These eyes, electronic in nature, belonged to an object that had been trailing the convoy for days. Tasked with monitoring the Alliance's movements in this region, a ZAFT submarine carrier had carefully followed the formation, logging and reporting vast amounts of data back to Carpentaria. As a result, the sudden maneuver of several ships splitting away from the main formation, as well as several intercepted short range messages, allowed the crew of the ZAFT vessel to realize the approximate nature and importance of what was going on.

As numerous messages shot back and forth across the Earth, the ravaged form of the Sangreal impacted the surface with tremendous force. The following shockwave sending a message both far and near. For as the physical signs of the crash were focused in a relatively small area, the force of the following events would travel across not just Earth, but the entire Human Space, as several factions turned their attention on Marshall Islands. Though the gears of progress had started to turn some time ago, after this night their momentum would become unstoppable and echo far into the future.

* * *

**A/N - **Okay, I know it might look like nothing much happened in this chapter, but understand that there are times when the greatest of changes are caused by the smallest of events.


	27. Leaving the Oasis

For once Yzak was actually happy. A feeling he couldn't recall experiencing in weeks, perhaps months. It spread deep into his body, filling every cell, every fiber of his being with that warm and pleasant sensation. Even all the world's problems faded away into the background, barely even worth considering. He relaxed even more, eager to get the most of each moment since he understood that this feeling of satisfaction and comfort would not last forever.

With his mind freely revolving around random things he didn't bother to consider in a more detailed manner, Yzak reached out and felt for the faucet, which he turned to let an even hotter stream of water flow out of the shower and onto him. It felt so good; he even smiled one of his very rare happy smiles. Something only his mother had witnessed. And only a few times at that. Satisfied with the temperature Yzak continued to stand underneath the shower, one hand against the tiled wall, the other resting on the faucet, ready to turn up the heat even more. Ah, the simple pleasures of life!

What made it even better was that he didn't have to worry about being quick about it so Dearka could take a shower. Dearka had already taken his usual quick shower and had left to get himself something to eat. Therefore Yzak was free to take his time. Sometimes it paid to be the one preferring to sleep a bit longer.

Unfortunately, his happy time was interrupted when someone knocked on the door of the hotel number Yzak shared with Dearka. Yzak cracked one eye open and looked in the general direction of the sound. There wasn't much to see. Not only did the heavily matted glass prevented him from seeing clearly outside the shower cabin, but also did the thick layer of steam filling the small bathroom. He waited a few seconds, hoping that he had misheard it, but that was not the case. The knocking repeated again, louder this time.

Feeling his good mood crumbling away, Yzak turned off the water and got out of the shower. At first he thought it was Dearka. However, he distinctly remembered seeing Dearka take his keycard with him. Few seconds of thought crossed off the possibility of a housekeeper standing outside. Usually they only knocked once. When no answer came, they simply used their master key to unlock the door. Athrun, Nicol and even Juliet were also out of the question. They were supposed to meet in an hour anyway, no need in bothering others sooner.

He picked up the towel and wrapped it around his waist. He considered getting dressed before opening the door, but decided otherwise. His mood was ruined, shattered by the unwanted interruption of his privacy. So he decided to meet the visitor as he was. After all, what better way to show someone how unwelcome they were, by forcing them to realize that they had pulled him out of the shower for some stupid reason. With his mind made up and his face assuming the familiar expression of utter contempt for all living things, Yzak left the bathroom and headed for the door. He swung them open at the exact moment the person on the other side tried to knock again and came face to face with the person his mind had partially singled out as the most likely suspect of intrusion. Juliet.

"Hi … wow, didn't expect to see you like this. I thought you were still sleeping." Juliet said once she saw Yzak. Her lips parted slightly, just enough to bare her teeth a little, adding a slightly predatory tint to her wide grin as she got a comprehensive view of the guy in front of her. Juliet had to admit, the sight was actually quite pleasing. Nicely defined muscles, wide shoulders, a tall and ripped body. The silvery white, still wet, hair, bunched in numerous strands, along with that piercing blue glare only increased the effort it took to keep her eyes from wondering as she tried to look only at his face.

On Yzak's part he was also trying hard to keep his face completely blank. A cocky grin was fighting to make its way to his face since he knew exactly why Juliet was keeping her gaze locked on a single point. ZAFT Redcoats were often on the receiving end of admiring gazes, thanks to a rigorous training regime at the Academy. He decided to push things a little further and placed one hand on his hip while leaning against the half-opened door. As expected, Juliet made a quick look at his body before bringing her gaze up. "No. I wasn't sleeping. As you can clearly see I was in the shower before you pulled me out. Now, what's the problem? Why are you here?" He asked discontentedly. Despite how he felt about being admired, he was still upset by the whole situation.

"I was just trying to find out how much it would take until you got up and opened the door, in case you were sleeping. However seeing that you were already awake, I guess I'll have to try another day." Juliet replied with an equal tone in her voice. "Don't worry, I'm not that fixated on you." She continued before Yzak could reply. "I'm here because Athrun asked me to get you. Apparently he has something to tell us."

"What? Right now? I'm busy. Besides, we were supposed to meet in an hour anyway. Can't he wait until then?"

Juliet shook her head slowly. "Nope. Said it was real urgent. Can't wait until later. So get ready and let's go!"

"Fuck." Yzak gritted his teeth and ran his hand through his hair. "Always at the worst time." He paused and looked over his shoulder at the bathroom and then at the rest of the twin sized room. "Fine, just let me get dressed." Yzak turned his head back and found Juliet standing right on the doorstep, barely over a meter away, preventing him from closing the door. "What now? Can't you realize I'd like some privacy? Get out!"

However the girl didn't move. She stared at him with that predatory gaze that actually managed to send a few shivers down his spine. "Why would you want that? Judging from that pose you made just now, you're the type who likes people watching him. So I'm here and I'm watching. You like it?" She practically whispered the last part.

Yzak was about to give her a piece of his mind when he realized the deal for what it was. So she wanted to play dirty? Well, Yzak was not the one who backed down from a challenge. "Now that I think about it, I do like it. Go ahead watch as much as you like and enjoy the sight." He replied with a cocky grin and removed the towel, giving her a full frontal view. "Voila." The look on Juliet's face was priceless. The girl widened her eyes and gasped in surprise before darting outside and slamming the door behind her.

Quietly chuckling about the small victory Yzak picked up the towel and walked over to where his clothes were thrown on the backrest of an easy-chair. Juliet's bluff had been rather easy to see through after he got a good look at her eyes. Though many people would have interpreted that focused, unblinking look as the gaze of a predator, Yzak wasn't most people. As someone who often tended to intimidate people with a similar look, he knew how a genuine one was supposed to look. The look he saw in her eyes was a bit different. It reminded him of the eyes of a cat playing with a mouse. A gaze that made the target guess when the killing blow would come, or whether it would come at all. It had been that tiny bit of playfulness that had allowed Yzak to realize the bluff for what it was and turn the tables around.

There was just one thing that puzzled Yzak's mind as he put on a white shirt. Something he couldn't easily dismiss. Why didn't the image of Juliet looking at him with that look leave his mind? Why did it felt so good when he saw her admiring his body? And why did it felt so good because it had been none other than Juliet looking at him? He didn't have an answer for any of these questions. He wasn't sure he even wanted to have an answer, even if it did assuage the distractions. With a deep breath and a shake of his head, Yzak tried to focus on more important problems at hand, and was relieved to feel the strange thoughts move into the background of his mind.

Once he was done dressing, he made sure to grab the keycard and left the room, only to find Juliet waiting for him outside. "Why are you still here?" Yzak had been sure the girl had already left due to the embarrassment of seeing him naked.

"Like I said, Athrun told me to fetch you, so I'm making sure you actually show up." Juliet acted as if nothing had happened, though a faint trace of red still lingered on her cheeks. "And I have to say, you sure take a lot of time to get dressed. An old man, bound to a wheelchair gets dressed faster than you." She added when they started walking down the corridor to the elevators.

Yzak glanced over his shoulder shot an amused glance. "Maybe. I don't know. Unlike you I have never bothered to follow old men with a chronometer in my hand. What I'd like to know is why Athrun sent you, not Dearka?" If Juliet noticed the dig, she let it pass unaddressed. She followed him closely behind and pretended to think for a moment.

"Gee, I don't know. I mean, perhaps the reason he asked me because Dearka was at the restaurant with him and that you didn't pick up the phone when he called you from the front desk?" She said as if genuinely puzzled by the whole deal. "Also, but that's just a theory, it might have something to do with the fact that my room is on the same floor as yours, don't you think?" Yzak sighed; apparently she had noticed his little remark and was striking back.

However, truth be told, it was kinda obvious now. With him in the shower, there was no way he could have answered, or even hear, the phone. So calling Juliet was the sensible thing to do. Juliet was also right about the rooms. With the hotel being almost fully booked, it had been impossible for them to get rooms that were close to each other. As a result Athrun and Nicol shared a twin sized room on the fifth floor, Yzak and Dearka were cramped in a twin sized room on the third floor. Though Juliet's single size number was also on the third floor, it was on the other side of the building, resulting in quite a distance to his room, despite which she was most suited for the task of getting Yzak to wherever Athrun needed him.

"Did he tell you anything specific as to why I most likely will have to pass up on breakfast?" Yzak inquired, despite the urge to reply to Juliet's teasing with some of his own.

"Not really. I think he said it has something to do with a message from the Cousteau." She mentioned the underwater submarine carrier they were using as home base in their pursuit of the Archangel. "I guess that's why you're not getting any breakfast." Almost immediately she heard Yzak gritting his teeth. The fact alone that she could actually hear him grit his teeth was surprising. Apparently Yzak was seriously pissed off.

"Bastard!" Yzak growled as they reached the elevators.

Juliet glared at him, despite how dangerous it most likely was right now. "Oh, so I'm a bastard now? I guess someone's asking for a heavy dose of laxative in their morning coffee."

"Not you! Athrun!" Yzak didn't bother looking at her as he called the elevator and then started boring his gaze into the doors as if it would make the elevator move faster. "Is it so hard for him to explain the situation completely? It would only take him a few additional seconds and it would be a lot easier for me if I didn't have to wonder what so important about that message."

"Me too." Juliet added as the elevator opened and they both stepped inside the empty car. "What? Don't you think I'm also curious? Currently I'm a member of the team. Whatever the message contains I'm sure it has something for me as well." She explained when Yzak looked at her with a confused frown.

Yzak maintained the gaze for a moment and eventually shrugged. "Maybe. Assuming Athrun isn't overreacting."

"Why would he do that?"

"It's a habit of his. There are times when he tends to overreact and blow everything out of proportion." Yzak pointed out the flaws of his long term rival. He realized that perhaps talking behind his Commander's back wasn't a good thing, but he didn't care. He was still slightly frustrated, besides Juliet was one of them; she deserved to know something about the person in charge.

A sudden thought stopped him short. When had he accepted Juliet as one of their own? He couldn't recall such an event. Somehow, some way he had grown accustomed to the black haired girl without realizing it. Sure, he didn't consider her as a true member of their team, like he did Dearka, Nicol and even Athrun, but he didn't consider her an outsider either. She had become sort of a comrade in arms. He glanced carefully at her. Juliet was standing next to him, her fingers toying with the strand, which was threaded through a mixture of red and green glass beads. Yzak looked back at the doors in front of him and shuddered. The thought of having grown used to Juliet and her constant habit of causing an argument over a myriad of things was a bit scary.

"My, my, a subordinate gossiping behind his superior's back. Isn't that supposed to be a bad thing?" Juliet noticed the slight twitching of Yzak's eye when she reminded him who led their team. So it turned out Dearka was right. Yzak hated when someone mentioned that Athrun was better at something than he was.

Despite her expectations, Yzak did not launch into one of his famous rants. He took a deep breath and replied in a calm voice. "I am not gossiping. I am merely stating the facts. If Athrun does not like it, that is his problem. Furthermore, it is because he's my superior I have to pay attention to his actions and decisions because they can and do affect my life and those of others. Yours among them." He finished in an official tone at the same time the doors opened.

Juliet rolled her eyes. "Could you do it without that holier-than-thou voice of yours? It's annoying."

"I know." Yzak replied indefinitely with a tight smile. They exited the elevator and walked down the corridor. Fortunately their destination was very close, so they didn't have to walk for long. As soon as they had reached the correct room, Yzak reached out and rapped.

The doors opened a short moment later. "Good morning." Nicol greeted them and stepped aside, allowing them to enter. Yzak didn't reply, he walked right past his teammate, barely sparing a glance. Apparently Nicol was used to this kind of treatment, since he didn't say anything else. Juliet on the other hand, greeted him with a nod and a smile and received a similar response in return as she walked inside, past Nicol.

Athrun and Nicol lived in a much bigger number than Dearka and Yzak. They had a separate bedroom, a large living room and a bathroom, unlike Yzak and Dearka who had the bedroom and living room combined in one. Not only did they have more rooms, but the interior was of higher quality as well – the difference between a standard and deluxe class numbers. Nonetheless no one argued about it, they were professionals after all. Besides, as the number with most space, theirs had the task of serving as their command center for all their meetings and briefings.

The best thing about their command center was that it featured a lot of furniture and places to sit, so that everyone could keep their distance from each other when they got fed up with all sorts of smart comments and remarks flowing back and forth during their meetings. A rather large coffee table, clad with various maps and notes, took up the center of the room, with a wide couch next to it. A big easy-chair was placed at one end of the table and offered an excellent view of the entire room, including the TV set, located in one corner of the room, along with a pair of dressers. Lastly, pair of simpler chairs, along with a small table, were located next to the window, which offered a view of one of the many Orb's beaches.

"Good, you two are finally here, maybe now Athrun will finally reveal what all the fuss is about." Dearka waved the butter smeared toast in his hand, greeting them. He then bit off a huge chunk off the toast and leaned back into the comfortable chair, turning his gaze towards Athrun who was sitting at the coffee table.

Athrun raised his eyes from the laptop in front of him and noticed Yzak and Juliet entering the room. "Good morning." He waited until everyone took their seats. Nicol took one of the chairs by the window; Juliet settled on her favorite spot on top the small dresser, whereas Yzak took the second chair and sat down on the other side of the table, with the chair facing backwards. "I assume everyone is very eager to hear what this is all about, so I'll cut right to the chase. I received a message from the Cousteau. We have to return to the carrier and leave Orb. The Archangel is no longer of our concern."

The reaction was just like he had expected. Blank looks, directed at him from four directions, complete silence and even a complete lack of movement, as his team digested the news. He did not say another word, his silence serving as proof that he was being serious and wasn't joking around. The fact that he always took his duties seriously should have been more than enough of additional proof. Still, judging from the expressions that started to settle on everyone's faces, they still doubted him as confusion, disbelief and a slight amount of anger was clearly visible.

Yzak closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "You mind repeating that, Zala? For some reason I thought there was more bullshit coming from you than usual."

"You heard it right." Athrun sighed. "We're ordered to pull out. The Archangel is no longer our problem."

"Not our problem? NOT OUR PROBLEM! … What are those idiots thinking up there! That ship has the potential to fuck up the entire war for us!" Yzak shouted and jumped to his feet. "The war is hanging by a thread as it is! If they start making more of them, the entire balance will shift in their favor."

"You're forgetting about Operation Spit Break, Yzak. The blow that will take out Panama and ground those bastards for good. It won't matter how many Mobile Suits they build if they can't get them up in space where it counts." Dearka pointed out quietly.

"Assuming it succeeds. Our forces will be assaulting the most fortified base, right in the middle of their territory. Not just that, but the entire Carpentaria base knows about the attack and what is known in Carpentaria, is also known in Washington."

"Uh, guys, please, we're getting off topic." Nicol intervened before the debate went completely in the opposite direction. He then turned his attention towards Athrun. "Why are ordered to withdraw? New orders?"

Athrun opened a few files on his laptop and then turned it around, so that everyone could see the screen. On the display there were was a map of the Marshall Islands region, with various circles and marks drawn on it. Since the image made no sense by itself, Athrun took a deep breath to explain the situation. "A few days ago, one of our patrols in the region intercepted several transmissions from an Alliance fleet it was supposed to track and observe. They found out that the Alliance had spotted a UFO crashing somewhere in this region." He pointed at the encircled area.

"And? Why should we care?" Dearka arched his eyebrow and leaned closer to the screen. An action that was mirrored by almost everyone else, as they gathered around the desk in order to get a better look.

"The Alliance suspects it was some kind of a Mobile Suit. However, this is where it gets interesting. ZAFT had no forces in the area at that time, so it rules out the possibility of it being one of ours."

"Could be someone from Circ-City." Juliet suddenly spoke from where she was standing between Yzak and Dearka. The solid ring at the end of her braid swinging back and forth, as she leaned forward, and drawing nervous looks from Dearka. "Individual atmospheric entries were pretty common back on Utopia, though from what you just told me, it looks like the poor bastard messed up."

Athrun gave her an appreciatory smile. "You're dead on, Juliet. ZAFT suspects that Circ-City has something to with this. Most likely one of those Armored Cores has crashed on Earth and that's got the Alliance on edge. Therefore our task is to head to Marshall Islands, locate the crash site and, if possible, hold it until a retrieval force from Carpentaria arrives and salvages what they can."

"Yeah, but why? What does it have to do with us? Why should we care?" Dearka managed to voice his thoughts around the toast in his mouth. "Why not let the Alliance take it?"

"Technology." Athrun replied curtly. "From what I know, PLANTs and Earth want to get their hands on Utopian technology, but Circ-City is not sharing them cheap or fast enough, at least the more advanced ones. Capturing a AC would give access to some of their most advanced technologies and put more pressure on Circ-City to cease skimping on other tech. I think I don't have to explain it why we can't allow the Alliance to take it."

Yzak, Dearka and Nicol looked at the image for several moments, each contemplating his own thoughts on the matter. Their opinions on the new plan of action varied greatly. Nicol was the calmest of them all; to him the logical explanation about why they had to leave Orb was enough of a reason to make a decision. For Yzak and Dearka things were a little more difficult. Their sense of pride demanded revenge for all the humiliations the Archangel had dealt them. It was doubly hard for Yzak who had wowed to pursue the ship till the end of the world, having to back off and follow a hated order was hard. Very hard. In the end, however, logic gained the upper hand and eventually they both nodded. Hesitantly.

Juliet watched the rest of the team make a decision and decided that it was the proper moment to voice her biggest concern. She stood up straight, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I'm happy you guys were able to reach a decision. Good for you. However, that does not solve my problem. In fact it makes it worse. I'm a merc, I'm not part of your military, so these orders don't concern me. What does concern me is my contract. I was hired to help you guys take out the Archangel and the Pulverizer. If you leave I'll be on my own. And I certainly hope ZAFT does not expect me to do it on my own. At least not for what they're paying me."

Juliet was barely done talking when Athrun nodded in agreement and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Juliet. There's also a message regarding your contract." He called up a document file and showed it to Juliet. "I'll save you some time and explain what is written here. ZAFT realizes that with the chance of capturing a AC, the pursuit after the Pulverizer has become a moot point. So they're cancelling the contract … Don't worry, they've agreed to pay you twenty percent of the total sum in order to recompense for your services up till this day. In addition, they're offering you a new contract to aid us in our mission. Details about the payment are mentioned here. I'll give you a copy so you can read it more thoroughly later." For some reason Juliet looked more frustrated than before, she wasn't angry at him, Athrun could see it in her eyes. She was angry at something else. Something he couldn't understand.

The girl stared at him for a long time, obviously caught up in her own thoughts. He tried to stare back in order to draw some kind of reply from her, but his attempts were in vain. He even started feeling uncomfortable when the silence dragged on for longer than necessary. Dearka, Nicol and Yzak caught up on it as well and started staring at the girl themselves. Eventually, with a heavy sigh, Juliet's mind returned to the present. "I need a moment to think." She turned around and left the room before anyone could say a word.

"Okay, that was strange." Dearka rolled his eyes once the girl was gone. "What's up with her?"

"She's obviously frustrated about something. Maybe we should do something. Talk to her, perhaps?" Nicol voiced his concern.

"Nah. There's no need. She said she needed some time to think. So let her." Yzak rose to his feet and made his way towards the doors. "Besides, if we push things, she'll decide to stay with us and finish off our … my nerves for good." He added with a shiver.

xxxxx

"You really are a strange princess." Kira shook his head and passed the drink to her. "Princesses usually don't hang around in places like this." He bent down to get his own cup of coffee.

Cagalli took the cup and glared at him. "Oh, excuse me for not meeting your expectations of a princess. I do what I want when I want. Besides, how many princesses have you met anyway?" She challenged. Cagalli watched Kira take a large sip and nod slightly.

"Okay, I admit, I don't know much about princesses like you." He admitted and squared his shoulders. The technician's overalls he had been given were somewhat uncomfortable and felt a bit too small for him. Still, despite the discomfort, he had to wear them. At least while he was inside Morgenroete territory. Wearing an OMNI Enforcer uniform while working here didn't sit right with some laws, at least that's what he had been told. "I never expected you to be the one who liked such things. A princess like you…"

"First of all don't call me princess!" Cagalli interrupted him in a slightly annoyed voice as she leaned against the lounge's wall. "I hate it when people call me by a title. I have a name, use it! Second, what is so bad about me liking to hang out at Morgenroete? It is the only place where I get to see something like that." She gestured her head towards the large window that took up an entire wall of the room. On the other side of the window was a massive hangar, where the Strike Gundam and the Pulverizer Muscle Tracer were located.

Kira traced her gaze and saw what she was looking at. "Well, if you're interested in Mobile Suits then I guess it makes sense." A sudden thought occurred to him. "By the way, did you go to the Morgenroete subsidiary on Heliopolis for the same reason?"

Cagalli pursed her lips for a moment, the unpleasant memories of Heliopolis surfacing in her mind. "Partially." She replied. "It had more to do with politics than my hobby. You see, I heard a rumor that Morgenroete was developing Mobile Suits for the Alliance. When I asked my father about it, he didn't tell me anything. So, I decided to go check it myself. And, as you probably remember, you know how it turned out. Orb was indeed violating its own ideals by collaborating with the Alliance." Still maintaining her gaze lock with the Strike, Cagalli walked over to the window and touched the glass pane with her palm. "I know they meant well, but sometimes I keep wondering whether it was worth it."

"There a lot of things that doesn't make sense at first. Sometimes you just have to wait and see."

"You know, you sound just like my father." Cagalli said with a mixture of annoyance and amusement, and turned around to face him. She found Kira staring at her in confusion, unable to decide whether she meant it in a good or a bad way. Cagalli didn't bother to clarify, mainly because she didn't know how she felt about it herself. "He always said, I had no idea how the world works … I guess that's why I joined Desert Dawn after escaping from Heliopolis. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to find out how others lived their lives."

Kira was speechless. He knew Cagalli was a very unusual person. Someone who seemed to be the embodiment of adventurousness and recklessness at times, unlike Kira, who tried to avoid such things whenever possible. Still, there was something about that particular aspect of Cagalli's character he actually found enjoyable. Maybe it was a different kind of recklessness or something else, but the more Kira thought about Cagalli's hotheaded nature, the more he liked it. "And? Did you learn anything?"

"I did get a better look at how the world operates, but in the end, I found very few answers." Cagalli replied with a sigh. "When you look at it from a different point of view, those guys were fighting for nothing more than a piece of sand. A lifeless desert. Yet they fought for it tooth and nail. You have to admire that. No matter how hard and how dangerous it was, they tried their best to defend it … just because the desert is their home."

"That's why they fought. Everyone has a reason to fight. Whether it's just or not, everyone fights for something." Kira stared in his cup thoughtfully as he slowly swirled it in his hand.

Cagalli gave him a curious look. "And what is your reason, Kira? Why are you fighting?"

"Why am I fighting? Simple, in order to protect my friends." Kira replied. "I don't want them to get hurt, that's all."

Cagalli frowned in slight disbelief. Kira's answer was not kind she expected. In fact to her it was a very flawed answer. One with a huge hole in it. Still, despite how much she wanted to point out her opinion on Kira's answer, she kept her mouth shut. At least for a moment. Long enough for her to come up with an indirect way of pointing out the incompleteness. "But the Archangel won't always be on the run. Eventually it will reach a safe location. What will you do then?"

Kira didn't have an answer for that. He hadn't thought that far ahead. He had always been concerned with the immediate threat, not something far into the future. That was what Murrue and others were for. They called the shots and he did his best to ensure that everyone stayed alive and well. Planning what to do in the future, once everything was over, seemed like a luxury to him. Time wasted on meaningless daydreaming. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it yet" He finally admitted. "I guess I'll deal with it when the time comes. For now, all I want is to make sure the Strike works perfectly and the Archangel remains safe."

"Is that why you didn't go meet your parents?" Cagalli blurted out before she realized she was talking. She also realized that her voice was more reproachful than concerned. But that's how she felt about the situation. Kira was spending way too much with that machine of his. Too much to even spare a few minutes of time to see his parents, who hadn't seen him for a long time. When she saw the look on Kira's face, Cagalli realized she had crossed the line and touched something sensitive. There was anger in his face, but it wasn't aimed at her. It was something else, something deep and very personal. "Oh, sorry?" She added in a low voice.

On Kira's part, the comment which was most likely meant as something casual, stirred up a host of emotions inside him. Ever since he had heard about the possible visit, he had tried his best to keep his mind busy, to avoid thinking of that question that had surfaced in his mind several times since the day Heliopolis was destroyed. _Why did they make me a Coordinator? _ He tried not to think about it because he wasn't sure whether he wanted an answer at all. He was also unsure whether he could restrain himself from saying something he would later regret.

He was afraid of his actions because he had realized that the main reason why he was standing there right now was because he was a Coordinator. If he was not a Coordinator his life would have been much different. Better or worse, he didn't know, but he was certain that a lot of his recent problems would have existed at all, if he was a Natural. Hell, his entire life would have been different. Of course, that would also mean that the Archangel would have probably never reached Earth. Most of his friends would be dead. Kira shook his head once the thoughts shifted towards the darker side of his mind. Thinking about the "what if" things was only a waste of time. There was nothing he could do about the past. It was the future he should be worrying about.

"Yeah." Kira replied with a deep sigh, his spirit gloomy from the thoughts. He finished his drink and tossed it in the garbage bin. "You know, I'll be going, I still have a lot of work to do." Kira didn't feel like talking anymore. He wasn't angry at Cagalli, it wasn't her fault, she had only brought the unpleasant thoughts to the surface. "Don't worry about what you said, it's not your fault." Kira voiced his thoughts when Cagalli opened her mouth to say something. "I'm not angry at you. It's just that I have to clear my head. Too many thoughts swimming around."

Cagalli quietly watched him leave, her hands tightly clutching the drink they held. When Kira disappeared from her sight, she turned her gaze towards the hangar and waited until Kira emerged from the hallway below. Though calm outwardly, Cagalli's mind was also afire with thoughts. She knew she was the reason why Kira had interrupted their chat, despite what he said. No one acted so strangely when the conversation touched their parents. Therefore, she decided that if there was anything she could do, it definitely involved Kira's parents.

xxxxx

Erica looked up from the clipboard and flashed a smile. "Ahh, Daniel, excellent. I was waiting for you." She said joyfully to the black haired teenager crossing the underground hangar towards her. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm not going to ask you anything. Quite the opposite, I have a lot of things to tell you."

Daniel's step became lighter when he heard her words. All worries regarding another potential questioning about the Pulverizer banished from his mind, replaced by mild curiosity. This was the first time Erica wanted to tell him something, rather than ask a question. Of course, given that he had the most extensive knowledge about the Pulverizer, at least for a while, the large amount of questions shouldn't be that much of a surprise. Sill, that didn't mean he was obliged to be glad about it and smile like an idiot when confronted by several curious engineers.

Of course things weren't all bad. Being in the center of attention did feed his ego. Something which had done wonders in giving him extra patience. The recent meeting with the test pilots had also turned out remarkably well. Even Tao and Mayura had become a bit friendlier when he had done telling them everything he knew about an actual combat. The thought about the girls made him smile and bring up his left hand to his cheek.

In a sudden rush of generosity, Daniel had managed to place together all the combat footage the Pulverizer had recorded. He then had made a copy and had offered it to Asagi as a visual sample and training material for them to use. Asagi had been overjoyed by the gift and had not hesitated to express her gratitude in a very enjoyable way. Namely, a tight hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. The unexpected move had caught Daniel off guard so much, that by the time he attempted to do something on his part, the girl had already released him.

Still caught up in his thoughts, Daniel stood in front of Erica with a slightly dreamy look on his face. "What exactly?"

"It is about the Pulverizer." Erica shook her head in mild amusement. Kids these days. She was well aware of what was most likely going through Daniel's mind. Asagi had always been the type who expressed her emotions very openly. Good for him. The boy needed some good memories in his life. Everyone needed. "I think you will like what I have to say." Erica added and beckoned him to follow her. They walked towards the far end of the hangar, where the Strike and the Pulverizer were located. Both machines were lying on their backs, so that the Morgenroete personnel could access the various parts more easily.

"If you've managed to unlock more of its secrets then I'll certainly like it. I'm always eager to learn something new about that machine." The boy matched his steps with hers so that he was walking right beside her.

"Your guess is very accurate. We have, indeed, found out a couple of things. Of course if it wasn't for your help the progress would have been much slower. You have a good head on your shoulders, Daniel." Erica praised him. "If not for various circumstances I'd seriously consider offering you a job as a technician or a test pilot."

Daniel took a deep breath, reminding his brain to control the breathing by themselves. Saying that he was surprised was one hell of an understatement. He was more like shocked that someone like Erica would consider offering him a serious job. Most kids his age were lucky to receive a part-time job at some fast food joint or something else along those lines. And here, Erica Simmons, the Chief Engineer of Morgenroete Inc. was offering him a serious job involving cutting edge technology and Mobile Suits. To him! A sixteen year old teenager who hadn't even finished college.

He opened his mouth to speak, but found his throat dry. A loud gulp later he tried again. "Wow! That would be great! I'd love to work here!" Then reality sunk in. "Too bad I'm enlisted in the military. If it wasn't for the war, I'd take this job in an instant."

"I'm glad to hear you're interested. Perhaps once the war is over, maybe you can come to Orb again, and I'll see what I can do to make you one of us." Erica led him past the Strike. "I think there's a pretty good chance of finding some way of bringing you into the fold. Anyway, time for the main reason why I called you here." She finished as the Pulverizer came into the view.

The first thing Daniel noticed was the visual change. The damage was practically gone. The previously molten and shot up surfaces were almost as good as new. The ravaged mess that had been the front of the core was smooth and strong. However, Daniel could still see several dents and nicks on the right side of the Pulverizer's core and its right shin. But other than that, the machine was good as new and ready for battle.

The other difference was the weapon system behind the right shoulder. The gatling cannon and gun launcher combo weapon pod was removed. In its place there was a dome shaped turret with a twin barreled cannon and a pair of rectangular tubes on either side of the turret. Daniel had little idea what the new weapon was, but he was certain they were at least as good as the weapons they had replaced. After all, a quickly adapted modification was more prone to malfunction than a properly designed one. He just hoped he would be able to get used to the new weapons.

"As you can clearly see, we have made a few tweaks and modifications to the Pulverizer. I know we should have asked for your permission, but I assumed you'd let us proceed anyway, since the machine was in a very bad shape." Erica said in a slightly apologetive tone. When Daniel said nothing, she took it as an okay to proceed. "Yes, well, we did our best to repair it, but we ran into serious problems the moment we started. We've never seen this type of armor before, so we had nothing to replace it with. So we had to improvise a little. We removed all the damaged armor from the front and used the least damaged plates to repair the side and the shin of the Pulverizer."

"That's good, I guess. But what about the core? Removing all that armor from the location that gets shot up most often leaves me very vulnerable." Daniel voiced his concern.

Erica merely smiled and waved it off. "Don't worry, we took care of it. Upon closer inspection we discovered that the Pulverizer is designed to supply some power to the armor just like the Strike. Further inspection revealed that though very different, the Pulverizer's armor is actually very similar to Phase Shift armor, both use electricity to manipulate special fibers in the armor's structure."

"I remember my dad telling me something about this. He said the Pulverizer's armor inspired the Phase Shift armor technology." Daniel muttered, distant memories swimming in his head. "He said he planned to replicate other features of the Pulverizer as well, but things got messy before he managed to do that."

To Erica this fact explained a lot. She had always been curious about the sudden creation of something so advanced as Phase Shift armor. Though revolutionary discoveries took place very often, most people were aware of development and research before the creation. With Phase Shift armor it was a completely different matter. The technology had appeared practically out of the blue. No extensive projects, no failed prototype versions, just a brief research resulting in a near-perfect model.

Forcing herself to return to the present, but not before making a note to carefully study every bit of data gathered from the Pulverizer, Erica pointed at the repaired core. "Funny that you mentioned Phase Shift armor, because that's exactly what we replaced the old armor with. It required some tweaks and a bit of adjustment of the reactor, which is also a very advanced piece of technology, but eventually we successfully integrated the Phase Shift armor into the system. Therefore you don't have to worry about munitions based weapons anymore. However, beam weapons do remain a threat."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now, what's with that weapon system?" Daniel motioned his head towards the right shoulder. "The combo weapon pod was very nice, so why did you remove it?"

"Upgrades, Daniel, upgrades." Erica replied. "What mister Murdoch did was amazing, but it was only a stopgap measure. Of course, the replacement you see, is also somewhat of a hurried adaption, but it's much better than the part it replaced. Now, the two barrels you see are dual 120mm heavy autocannons. They have a much longer range and accuracy than the gatling version and the ammo lasts longer as well. The two objects on either side are radar guided anti-armor missile launchers. Four tubes per launcher. The missiles pack a decent punch and can take out an MBT or seriously damage a Mobile Suit with a single hit. Both weapons are mounted in a turret which can rotate 270 degrees, allowing you to fire at targets without the need of having to face them directly." She paused for a moment before continuing in a less excited voice. "Still, they're pretty basic and I don't think they'll ever manage to replace the cannon you lost, but considering how much time we did, I'd say this ain't so bad for a replacement."

Daniel nodded in agreement as he inspected the twin barrels with a mixture of awe and longing. It was true; these things were nothing like that weapon, but it wasn't that bad either. At the very least he didn't have to worry about energy reserves when using these toys. "These will do just fine. The plasma cannon never was much of a high accuracy, long range weapon. Besides, I still have the other one and this way the Pulverizer has a bit more varied arsenal available."

"Always looking at things from the bright side, aren't you?" Erica smiled at his optimism. "By the way, the plasma cannon you were talking about? We did some research on the recovered parts and the intact one, and managed to find out some interesting things. Would you like to hear more?"

"Gladly. I'm always eager to learn more about the Pulverizer. God knows that thing has so many secrets inside it, it's not even funny."

"Excellent. Please, come here." Erica led him towards a nearby display. It took her only a brief moment to call up schematics of the weapon, though Daniel did notice that there were several blank spots. "We didn't have the permission to disassemble it as much as we wanted to, so there are a few things we don't know." Erica explained the lack of information and complete schematics. "The few details we did manage to reveal were very interesting and gave us several ideas we're just itching to try out for ourselves. First of all, for the sake of simplicity, we're calling these things bolt cannons, in order not to confuse them with high energy beam cannons, also known as plasma cannons. Just like our beam weapons, bolt canons fire plasma in order to score damage. The difference is that the charge is much higher than our own versions of equal size. For example, a bolt from your 40mm bolt cannon is roughly equal to a shot from a 125mm high energy heavy beam canon. Throw in the ability to fire rapidly and an explosive effect upon hitting the target and you've got a very impressive damage potential."

"Another noticeable difference is the sheath in which the plasma is contained. As you know, we use magnetic fields to contain plasma and prevent it from rapidly dissipating. The bolt cannon uses a different, slightly inferior approach. See this ring?" She pointed at the image, where a ring-shaped part was located near the muzzle of the weapon. "This part synthesizes a special type of plastic that engulfs the plasma charge as it passes through the ring. This is why the cannon appears to be firing bubbles, not beams. Of course, the plastic can't contain the plasma forever and it decays pretty fast, thus the relatively short range. Also, because the plasma inside is not focused like it is in a beam, the bolt is less effective at penetrating thick armor. However, that hardly matters since once the protective hits a surface; it bursts apart and affects a very large area. Kind of like explosive bullets that detonate on impact. Bolt cannons are like lightweight boxers, who punch like heavyweights."

Daniel's eyes obtained a slightly glassy look. "Wow." He had used the weapons before and he knew what they could do, but hearing about their abilities from an expert was different. Erica's explanation made them appear stronger, as if the revelation had increased their power. Daniel chuckled. It was amazing what a little amount of information could do. It instilled respect for the sophisticated technology he used. It also made him curious. Curious about what else the Pulverizer had to reveal. His eyes traveled across the silent form, searching for another secret Erica might have unlocked. His gaze fell on the laser blade emitter. "Erica, did you find out something about those laser blades? I am curious about how they manage to slip through beam sabers."

Unfortunately, Erica shook her head. "No. Not without disassembling them. We have a few theories, but they're just that. Theories. Until we take one apart and thoroughly examine it, I don't have an explanation." She replied bitterly. She really wanted to study the Pulverizer a lot more, to uncover its secrets and learn everything there was about it. Unfortunately, since most of these examinations involved taking the entire machine apart, this avenue of research was denied to her. She had to do with whatever she could learn without touching the machine too much. Erica sighed in frustration. Sometimes life was so unfair.

Next to her Daniel was pursuing dozens of thoughts at once. He had uncovered another one of the Pulverizer's secrets, he had remembered about the copy of the disk and the program it held and had realized that it could be the next secret to uncover and, most importantly, had received a kiss from a pretty girl. Daniel sighed happily. Sometimes life was so beautiful.

xxxxx

A submarine carrier did not have much in the way of providing privacy where one could separate themselves from others in order to be alone with their thoughts and any matters than needed some personal time to resolve. All locations, intended for such a purpose, were almost always busy. It seemed that there were a lot of people aboard the vessel who needed some "me time". Though Athrun was fully aware that others also had problems of their own, there was one thing that annoyed him. Why did everyone had to do their soul-searching at exactly the same time with him? Couldn't they change their schedule just a little bit?

With all the usual resting spots taken, Athrun had been forced to find an unconventional one. A brief search through his mind had brought up a relatively good location. The dressing/ready room where Mobile Suit pilots got into their flight suits and prepared for launch. The room was relatively comfortable, big enough to avoid the occasional touch of claustrophobia and it was off limits for most of the crew, which meant that the probability of encountering someone else was pretty low. With his mind made up Athrun had set off in the direction of the room that promised him some time for himself.

The night he had spent on that island with Cagalli and Juliet had left his mind in turmoil. Until that day he hadn't bothered considering the other side's view. At least not for real. Most of the time he had gone with PLANT's version of the story, since it seemed to make more sense. Besides, he was fighting to avoid another repeat of the Junius Seven incident. It was a noble cause, a cause worth fighting for, right? Apparently no, at least not really. Cagalli's words, though little more than an attempt to justify the Alliance's actions, had struck a spark inside him. He was starting to have doubts about this war. About how long it would take for it to end. Most people he knew placed their money on Operations Uroboros and Spit Break. Once the Alliance was grounded, they would be forced to begin negotiating for peace. At least that was the theory.

Recent experiences had taught Athrun that there was always a hidden factor that tended to surface whenever things were finally getting in hand. The unexpected development of Gundams and the destruction of a supposedly neutral colony, for example. These events had made him realize that the longer the war went on, the more people got affected by it, whether they wanted or not. If so, then the right thing to do was to win the war before it grew out of control.

But how? Completely defeating one side as quickly as possible? But what to do when the losing side started using more desperate measures? Should the winning side back off or push even harder for a quicker victory? If using increasingly harsher methods was the correct way, was there such a thing as going too far? When was too far anyway? Had ZAFT already crossed that border with the deployment of N-jammers? Had the Alliance? The questions demanded answers. Answers Athrun did not have, at least for now. He needed some time to think about it, some time to clear a path and set his head straight.

However, that was not meant to be. When Athrun reached the room and opened the doors, he found out that someone had already occupied it. Someone extremely pissed off. The first sight to greet his eyes when he entered the room was Juliet planting her foot into one of the locker doors with a resounding bang, while letting out an angry scream.

The sound of the doors opening drew Juliet's attention. "What the hell do you want!" She demanded hotly.

"Some peace and time alone to think." Athrun replied and let out a defeated sigh. "Though it looks like I'm not getting any on this ship."

Juliet lowered her foot and glared at him. "That's your problem. Now piss off! Can't you see I have my own things to take care of?" She gritted her teeth when Athrun didn't move and leaned with his shoulder against the wall while crossing his arms on his chest. "Didn't you hear me?"

"Improper behavior of my subordinates is also my problem. And I tend to take care of my problems. So if you're done destroying ZAFT property I suggest you calm down, Juliet." Athrun replied in a peaceful voice though there was some steel in it.

Juliet noted the subtle warning and realized that she was taking out her frustration on the wrong person. Though she often took out her anger on others, something told her that Athrun was not one of these "others". Still, that didn't prevent her from skewering him with a glare as she took deep breaths and clenched her fists in order to bring her temper back under control. "Okay, I'm calm now. Satisfied?" She managed through gritted teeth.

"Yes, actually. Thank you. Now could you please tell me what has made you so angry?"

"Uh, no. That's none of your concern. It has nothing to do with you." Juliet retorted, making it very clear that she was everything but calm.

Athrun shook his head. "You're wrong. If you're acting like this you're a liability on the battlefield. Until I'm certain about your mental state and your ability to control yourself, you're staying on the sub." He felt a major headache coming on. Instead of dealing with his already numerous problems, he was piling up even more predicaments on top of them. Still, this was not something he could ignore. He had to find out whether he could depend on Juliet during combat or not. It was his responsibility as a team leader to make sure everyone was in their top form, or at least as close to it as possible. "So you'd better do your best to convince me that if I allow you to deploy, I won't regret it."

"Like I said, it has nothing to do with you." Juliet repeated, though her voice made it clear that she didn't say it in order to make him leave her alone. The cause of her distress was someone else. "It's that stupid message that has me slightly upset."

"Now that's an understatement." Athrun quietly muttered to himself. Before Juliet could ask him to repeat it, he continued in a louder voice. "Are you also pissed off that we have to stop chasing after the Archangel? You're just like Yzak. Both of you are obsessed with that ship because of your bruised egos. Can't you learn to let it go?" He realized he was supposed to be diplomatic, but he couldn't bring himself to calm down. Lately his tolerance for bullshit had taken a deep dive.

"Fuck Yzak! I'm not like him!" Juliet retorted and shook her fist at Athrun. Then she realized that it wasn't quite right. After all she did desire vengeance for the damage the Strike had inflicted on the Romeo. Maybe she was similar to Yzak … a little. "It is the message itself … You see, ZAFT didn't hire me directly. I received the contract through my … I guess you could call him my agent."

"What's so unusual about that?"

"I hate my agent!"

"So why you don't just get rid of the guy?" Athrun was confused. "You seem like you're smart enough to take care of yourself, so why don't you get a different agent or go independent if you dislike him so much?"

Juliet's shoulders slumped as she flopped down on the couch. She then reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose whilst closing her eyes. "It's not that simple, Athrun. I don't have much of a choice in the matter … The reason I work for him is because he's the only one who can supply me with something I really need."

Athrun quietly walked over to where he could see her face from. "What does he supply you with?" Deeply concerned about the various possibilities, he studied her face for any telling signs.

Juliet cracked one eye open and glared at him. "No, it's not drugs. Do I look like an addict to you?" Athrun shook his head. "I thought so … Me and him, we have a deal, I do a couple of jobs for him, he receives a cut of the reward and provides me with information regarding a very important matter."

"Wha…" Athrun wanted to know, but Juliet didn't let him finish.

"A matter which does not concern you in the slightest." Her tone made it perfectly obvious that digging deeper was not a good idea.

With the unspoken message loud and clear, Athrun decided to slightly change the topic. "Okay, but I still don't see the reason why you're so upset."

"Usually he merely offers me a job, he doesn't represent me. This time, he has accepted the offer without bothering to ask me. It's like he considers me his own personal servant." She opened her eyes and let out a long, tired sigh. "That's what's got me upset. The fact that I'm slowly becoming someone's toy and there's nothing I can do about it … Sometimes I wonder if all this is worth it."

Athrun realized that the last part was not meant for him to hear. Juliet obviously had some very big problems to take care of. And, judging from how she was staring in the distance, her mind was currently somewhere far away. From his friendship with Yzak, Athrun was well aware how such people tended to address their problems. Once the anger was out of the system, brains switched on and went to work on various solutions. He couldn't suppress a chuckle. Juliet was more similar to Yzak than she thought.

When he saw that his chuckle had not registered, he decided to leave Juliet alone for now. Even though she didn't tell him, Athrun had noticed a few signs in her eyes and voice which told him that whatever this matter was, it was very personal. Quietly, in order to avoid making more noise than necessary, Athrun made his way towards the exit. Say what you want about others, but Juliet was certainly among those who truly needed some time to themselves. He stepped out in the hallway and, before the doors closed, cast a quick glance back at the girl. Juliet had not noticed his departure, mainly because her face was buried in her hands. Yep, she definitely needed to be was something else that caught his eye. The doors of the wrecked locker slowly swung open. On them Athrun saw two words "Yzak Joule".

_Oh Fuck!..._

xxxxx

"Lieutenant Yamato, you are needed on the observation deck." The PA system repeated the message, drawing a frustrated grunt from Kira as he made his way towards his destination. He had heard the announcement the first time, there was no need to repeat it. He wasn't deaf; it just took him some time to get from one point to another, something the dispatcher seemed to be unaware of.

Part of him wondered what this was all about. Why did they need him out there all of a sudden? The Archangel was about to depart from its underground shelter and there was no need for him, for anyone to be outside. Still, orders were orders, so he decided it would be better if he just did as he was told.

With the hatch to the deck inside his reach, he reached out and, with a slight effort, swung it open. As expected, there was no one there. He walked over to the railings and looked in both directions. The vast underground drydock was void of anything out of place that could be considered as a reason for him to be out there. "Hello! I'm here!" Kira said to no one in particular. He doubted anyone could hear him, but at least he had made the effort. When nothing happened, Kira decided that this was probably some sort of a stupid joke and turned around to head back into the ship.

"Kira!" A distant voice from below made him stop. He turned around and saw Cagalli running towards the ship. "Kira! Your parents … They are here." The girl yelled loud enough for everyone to hear. "Over there!" She pointed in the direction of the control facility for the underground dock.

Kira studied the building for a while and then took a sharp breath. He saw his parents, among several other people he recognized, looking at him from one of the observation rooms. He saw his mother heartily waving to him. Next to her, with his hand around her shoulders, stood his father. He didn't wave or made any other gesture, but the look in his eyes was no less kinder than that of Kira's mother. "Mom, dad." Kira muttered, his throat suddenly very tight.

"Why … why didn't you meet them?" Cagalli asked from behind while trying to catch her breath from the long run. "Why didn't you meet them?" She repeated as she stood next to Kira. She looked at him, expecting an answer, ready to demand it if need be, but she found out she couldn't. Not when Kira had that strange look on his face.

Kira tried to answer, he was certain he could do it after that time at Morgenroete, but words wouldn't come out. Not while he was looking at his parents. He didn't realize how much he had missed them. Only when he closed his eyes and turned away, did he regained the ability to speak. "I was just worried that … There was…" He had no idea what he was trying to say, or whether he should say anything at all. The sight of his parents had sent his emotions and thoughts in a wild spin. However, one thing did break through. He realized that he wanted to see his parents after all. Not to talk to them, but to simply meet them, to be near them, to feel the warmth only the presence of family could bring. Then he realized that the chance was gone. The Archangel wouldn't delay its departure just because he had realized what kind of an idiot he had been. "Cagalli." Kira turned to look her in the eyes, unaware that his own sight was a bit blurry. "Could you tell them I'm sorry? Sorry for refusing to meet them because I felt…"

He didn't get to finish since Cagalli suddenly embraced him in a tight hug. "They're your parents, dummy! You have to visit your parents whenever you can, regardless of what kind of a stupid thought is circulating through that head of yours … Don't worry, I'll tell them." She tightened her hug. "And I'll also tell them that you will meet them next time when you're in Orb, okay?"

"Yeah." Kira smiled and looked over Cagalli towards where his parents were standing. He raised his hand and waved. "I'll do that." Cagalli's embrace felt warm and comfortable, and seemed to be sucking away all the negative thoughts. "I'll definitely do that."


	28. A New Quest

With her usual morning rituals done, Murrue was about to leave her cabin in order to get some breakfast. Her shift was supposed to begin a little over an hour later so she had plenty of time to spare. She stepped on the pressure plate that would open the door and gasped when the door slid open and she found herself face to face with Mu.

Judging from the look on his face and the way he jumped slightly, she had caught him off guard as well. However he recovered a lot sooner and smiled in a greeting. „Wow, didn't expect to run into you like this. You scared me a little. Anyway I'm glad I caught you like this, a few more minutes later and my trip would have been for nothing." He shook the two objects he held in his hands.

Murrue glanced down and noticed that he was holding a pair of trays, each with food for one person. She then looked back at him and frowned. "What's this? Breakfast in bed? I'm afraid I didn't order any room service." She joked and stepped out into the hallway. "I was about to go get some breakfast myself. So there's no reason for you to do this."

"Yes, that was my first idea as well, but there's a bit of a problem down at the mess hall, so I'm afraid you'll have to settle with having to eat breakfast somewhere else. In the company of yours truly of course." He said with a shallow bow that made Murrue smile, despite the troubling note she'd picked up.

"Trouble in the mess hall? What's wrong?"

Mu shifted the trays. "I'll explain it, but could we please find a place to set these down, they're a lot heavier than they look. Don't worry, it's nothing important." Mu added in order to remove any worries from her mind.

"Fine, we can go to my office." Murrue lead the way towards her office, which was located next to her cabin. She opened the door and stepped aside in order to let Mu enter first, since the guy looked like he was about to drop his cargo. "Now would you please explain what is going on down there?"

Mu settled both trays on Murue's desk and sighed in relief. Perhaps he had taken a bit too much of the stuff. And had underestimated the distance between the mess hall and Murrue's cabin. And had overestimated his strength. "As I said, it's nothing serious. Thing is, the place is packed. Everyone who is currently not busy with some other task is at the mess hall."

Murrue walked over to her desk and sat down. "How come?"

"Well, we got ourselves a new cook today." Mu explained and pulled his tray closer. "It seems that Jack has decided to show our chef Arthur what he can do." He picked up one of the small pieces of meat from his tray and ate it with obvious enjoyment. "Mmm, chicken."

Murrue glanced down at her own tray and decided to dig in. If the food tasted at least as half as good as it looked she was certain she was in for a treat. Before she began though, she decided to ask one more question about this whole event. "Okay, I understand that Jack has decided to play a cook today, but why?"

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but this is only the result of a fairly long conflict." Mu struggled around the food in his mouth. He knew it wasn't polite to speak with food in the mouth, but he couldn't help it. It was so damned delicious. "You see, Jack has been complaining about the food on the Archangel ever since he first tried it. Not just complaining, but pointing out the flaws in them and claiming that he could do better. Apparently Arthur finally got fed up with him and told him to either do it or shut up."

"Obviously Jack decided to take Arthur up on his offer and it turned out the kid has quite a touch. He really knows how to prepare a delicious meal. When the word got out, practically the entire off duty crew rushed to the mess hall to check it out for themselves. Needless to say, there isn't a single free seat left down there." Mu said and went after the potato mash on his tray. He wasn't disappointed. The mash felt as light and soft as cream. "It's a good thing we resupplied at Orb and that there aren't a lot of people aboard, or we'd be in serious trouble of running out of food before we reached Alaska."

"Yes, Orb was a much needed stop. Not just for the ship, but for us as well." Murrue agreed. The unpleasant thought of what would have happened if they hadn't reached Orb swirling around in her head, but she shoved it aside and forced herself to focus on happier thoughts. "I'm relieved to see how much the kids' morale has risen. The meeting with their parents couldn't have come at a better time. I'm sure they hadn't even realized how much they missed them."

However, Mu didn't seem to completely agree with her. "If you're talking about those who did meet their parents, I agree. However, regarding those who did not, I'm a little concerned about them, and not because they didn't go to the meeting. I'm concerned about them as a whole." He set aside the fork and gave Murrue a genuinely worried look. "First of all, I'm sure you've heard what happened to Flay a few days ago."

"Yes I heard about it. Poor girl suffered a very severe nervous breakdown. From what I've heard she still hasn't recovered and the doctor says that due to the exhaustion and the sea sickness, it will take some time until she fully recovers." Murrue realized the food had lost some of its taste due to the unpleasant topic. "Even though I'd like to know what caused it, I find myself unable to pry into what looks like a deeply personal issue."

"Personal or not, if it starts affecting her health, it is our responsibility to do something about it. There is a point after which respecting one's privacy does more harm than good." Mu disagreed, perhaps a bit too loud than necessary, given how Murrue frowned at his words. Realizing he was getting too agitated, Mu took a calming breath and continued in a more collected voice. "Sorry, it's just that I hate watching someone suffer and not being able to do anything about it."

Fortunately Murrue didn't pay further attention to his previous tone and carried on as if nothing had happened. "Perhaps we should talk to Kira, ask him to go check up on her a few times. They are supposed to be very close; his presence might bring Flay some comfort."

"I'm not so sure about that." Mu shook his head slowly and took a sip of water. "I already suggested it to Kira and he said that he had gone to check up on her a few times. Unfortunately he showed up during those times when Flay was either delirious or asleep. Furthermore, I doubt he'll be able to solve the problem, because his mind is most certainly not focused on the task." Mu didn't consider himself an expert on romantic relationships, far from it. However, the few relationships he had had and observations from similar experiences told him that Kira's ability to make Flay feel better was almost nonexistent. Mainly because Kira truly had no idea what to do. Mu was fully aware that this was the first time the kid had gotten involved with a girl. For Kira everything was happening for the first time, everything was new. Therefore, the lack of experience would turn delicate situations like these into a hell. It was one of the main reasons why few people stayed together with their very first girlfriend or boyfriend. Sure, there were exceptions, but regarding Kira, Mu doubted his ability to handle such a complex and seemingly high maintenance girl like Flay.

On a more private level Mu had his doubts about Kira and Flay for a long time. Their relationship seemed a bit wrong. It wasn't anything specific, nothing he could place a finger on, but it was certainly there. Various rumors and speculations among the ship's crew served only to fuel the suspicion. Though they were supposed to be a couple, they didn't behave like it. Not even slightly. He couldn't sense any sort of mutual attraction. That could only mean two things. Either there was nothing between them, or his ability to read people was much worse than he imagined. "Anyway, Kira said he'll visit her again later. Let's hope he'll manage to cheer her up." He said with a heavy sigh. No matter how much he wanted to do it, he didn't believe it would be right dealing out relationship advice to Kira. Not only Kira would most likely ignore him, since no one liked to be lectured on such matters, but there were things one had to learn on their own. No matter how painful or difficult it was. He only hoped that if and when the blowup came, the fallout wouldn't affect them too much.

Murrue seemed to have similar thoughts since she didn't say a word and kept staring in the distance for a moment before returning to the present with a barely perceptible nod. "I hope so because I have no idea what to do otherwise. It's not like we can separate them, at least no while we're on the ship."

"True, true." Mu agreed. At that moment the intercom on Murrue's desk chimed and after Murrue ordered the call through, Miriallia's spoke from the speakers.

"Ma'am. Sorry to disturb you, but we picked up something on our sensors. It appears to be a signal from an emergency beacon. The frequency and nature of the signal indicates that it is of an Alliance origin. The signal is approximately one hundred and fifty kilometers away from us, towards Northeast. What should we do?" The girl reported with slight concern in her voice. Her distress was understandable; no one liked to hear about their allies being in trouble.

"Understood." Murrue replied after a brief moment of thought. "Keep our current course for now and order one of the Skygraspers prepared for launch as soon as possible." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Murrue could not help smiling proudly when Miriallia's acknowledgment came. She could already hear the slight professionalism in the girl's voice. Say what you want about their emotional problems, but one thing was certain, they certainly were more experienced and more effective at their tasks than they had been shortly after Heliopolis. She then turned to Mu. "I think it will be for the best if we check it out. I'd hate to leave our own allies in trouble. However, I'd like you to do a scouting run first. Not only you'll reach the destination faster than the Archangel, but it will be a lot easier for you to escape in case it is a trap." To her slight confusion Mu didn't move and kept staring at her with an amusing smile on his face. She frowned, unable to figure out what was so funny, but her frown only made Mu's smirk stretch even wider as if there was something about her confusion that amused him. "What?" She asked when the silence became intolerable.

"You know, the kids aren't the only ones who are changing. A month or so ago, you would have thrown caution to the winds and ordered the Archangel to head towards the beacon at flank speed without bothering to investigate." He replied with sudden kindness, after successfully guessing what Murrue had been smiling about during her brief conversation with Miriallia. Murrue felt a faint blush creeping up her cheeks, the compliment and the tone in which Mu had said it, making her feel slightly uncomfortable in a pleasant way. Before she could say something, Mu spoke again. "By the way, may I suggest sending out Ensign Koenig instead? The kid has been itching to go out on an actual flight ever since he started training on those simulators. Actual experience would go a long way in improving his skills, which aren't that bad actually."

However, Murrue wasn't going to let him distract her. She arched her eyebrow and pushed her tray towards the blond man. "Since you're so keen-eyed about others I'll let you carry my tray back to the mess hall, so that you get the chance to see other members of the crew as well, and, perhaps, observe how they have change over the time. After you're done with that I want you to go to the hangar and help Chief Murdoch prepare the Skygrasper for launch. Your witty comment aside, your idea about letting Tolle handle this was very good." Murrue smiled widely as she teased him. She was fully aware that she was dangerously close to crossing certain boundaries with this man, but she just couldn't help it. Sometimes it felt good to tease others.

xxxxx

_What the hell am I doing? Why did I sign up for this?_ The questions kept running through his mind as Tolle risked to raise his eyes from the dashboard in front of him. Immediately he was presented with the intimidating view of endless evening skies and a seemingly infinite ocean, stretching as far as he could see. The view was enough to make him feel small and insignificant as he flew through the skies in his Skygrasper.

_Go and check out that signal. Nothing serious, just a simple recon flight. _It all had sounded so easy back on the Archangel. So easy he had agreed instantly and had been heading towards the changing room before Mu could close his mouth. It was about time he got a chance to do something more than sit in the CIC section. A chance to put his flight skills to an actual use had seemed like an excellent idea.

Of course, now that he was putting said skills to actual use, Tolle realized that it wasn't exactly as simple as it looked. Ever since the launch he had nearly stalled the plane two times, just because he wanted to take things slowly. Apparently there were some things that could only be done at a speed which was a bit too much for his taste.

Tightening his grip around the joystick, Tolle swallowed hard whilst listening to the distant roar of the Skygrasper's jet-engines. As far as he could recall his flight simulations, they sounded just like they were supposed to. With his mind momentarily at ease, he decided it was time to start doing something productive. As in searching for the survivors responsible for the beacon. He brought the Skygrasper a few hundred meters closer to the ocean, until he had an excellent view of the surrounding area. He also made a quick glance at the radar in order to find out how far he was from the beacon's location. The display showed that he was less than three kilometers away from the signal, which meant that the target should be in visual range.

He keyed the radio and opened a channel with the Archangel. "Archangel, this is Skygrasper Two. I have almost reached the source of the signal, but so far I can't see anything."

"Understood, Skygrasper Two. No visual contact yet." His girlfriend's voice came through, sounding a bit awkward, due to her having to maintain a formal tone. "What about the radar?"

"Nope, nothing. As far as I can tell, other than the beacon, there's nothing… wait a minute." Tolle's voice trailed off when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He took a closer look and realized that he was looking at a small, metallic object, floating in the water. Upon closer inspection he realized that it was the transmitter buoy. "Archangel, I have a visual on the transmitter."

"Roger that, anything else?"

Tolle didn't reply for a while, since he had to turn the plane around for another, lower, pass over the buoy. On his second pass, he realized that there was a fair amount of various debris, floating some distance away from the transmitter. He was about to report his discovery when, from what he had assumed was a particularly large group of debris, a pair of red flares shot up in the skies. "Uh, Archangel, I think I've found something." Tolle took a moment to assess the situation and gather his thoughts. "Looks like a group of survivors from a destroyed ship. Three lifeboats in total. They have deployed flares and are asking for help. Uh, what am I supposed to do now?" His professional tone slipped at the very end of the sentence.

For a while he could hear Miriallia talking to someone in background before she turned her attention back to him. "Okay, Tolle, let them know you are aware of their signal and then return to the ship. We're changing course and are heading towards them." Tolle nodded in response, unaware of the fact that Miriallia couldn't see him and made another turn to make one last pass over the survivors. This time he lowered his plane low enough for him to see the sailors and, as he passed them, he rocked the Skygrasper's wings and then turned into the direction of the Archangel. As he climber higher and higher, he felt a wide smile settling on his face as he saw the survivors cheering in their lifeboats.

xxxxx

The original plan was worthless. That was the though everyone aboard the Cousteau shared when the sensor scans and images from the periscope were displayed on the main display for them to see. The original plan had involved quietly infiltrating the Marshall Islands region, locating the crash site, recovering the smaller pieces and preparing the largest one for transportation and establishing a perimeter until reinforcements arrived. However, all it took was one look at those images and even the dimmest member of the crew realized that they needed a new plan.

The reason for discarding the original plan was simple. The Alliance had beat them to the crash site by a significant margin. From what Athrun and all the others could tell, the Alliance forces had already started their work on the retrieval of the crashed AC. What made matters worse was the high level of activity pervading throughout the region. Though one could explain the activity with the importance of the find, Athrun was not fooled. The intense radio traffic and a large number of patrols, both naval and aerial type, made it very obvious that the enemy was aware of potential threats nearby. They were expecting company, and not the friendly sort.

"I think sinking that ship yesterday was not such a good idea. Even though we know it failed to report us to their friends, these guys have certainly noticed that one ship is missing and is not responding to any calls." Dearka voiced his thoughts, regardless of the fact that it was obvious they were thinking about the same thing. He did it in order to break the silence and perhaps get things moving.

"I agree. From the looks of it, the security has been increased considerably." Nicol observed the display. "There's no way we'll be able to infiltrate their defensive perimeter without being noticed. Even if I were to use the Mirage Colloid, recovering the pieces will be impossible. Someone will notice me."

Yzak narrowed his eyes and, with the taste of powerlessness strong in his mouth, offered his opinion as well. "Going in hard and heavy is also out of the question. They've probably established fortified positions all over the nearby region." He pointed at the map of the area. "Look at those small islands. Every one of them can serve as a defensive strong-point on our way towards that big island in the middle. Sure, we might take a fair amount of them with us, but I'd prefer to return home in one piece. Alive."

"How about letting them excavate the thing and then ambushing them?" Juliet piped up. She was far from a military planner, but that didn't mean she hadn't picked up some tricks of the trade. "Currently they are in a well-fortified position, attacking them with our current forces would be suicide. So how about we wait until they're done and attack them while they are transporting the AC to wherever they want to take it?"

"Too risky. The more time we spend here, the greater the chances they'll discover us. We also have no idea for how long they will stay here. It could be days, it could be weeks. Furthermore, there's always the chance of more reinforcements showing up eventually. No matter how you look at it, our current force is not strong enough to do anything." Athrun replied with a sigh. He had contemplated suggesting an ambush himself, but a second thought banished the suggestion.

"So what do you propose we do? Sit here and watch them take off with that thing?"

"Yes and no." Athrun replied to Yzak's exasperated question. "We have no chances of success right now. However, as you are aware, we were originally supposed to be relieved by friendly forces approaching from Carpentaria. So this is what we're going to do. We'll scout this area as best we can without getting noticed, and when the reinforcements are here, we launch an attack."

"And what if the Alliance leaves before they arrive?" Dearka was not convinced.

Athrun just shrugged. "Then I guess we'll try to do what we can to slow them down. Hopefully it won't come to that. With the allied fleet, our forces should be strong enough to take on the Alliance."

At that moment, the Captain who had remained quiet throughout the discussion cleared his throat in order to draw their attention. "I have no problem with the plan you suggested, but I think there are some things you should know. First of all the ETA of the fleet is approximately six hours, slightly past noon. The problem is that the fleet belongs to our allies, the Oceania Union. As a result they don't have much in Mobile Suits. Even with their help, taking on the Alliance will be difficult. On the good side, we recently received a message from Carpentaria. They say that in order to increase the odds, they have decided to order an orbital drop and get a squad of Mobile Suits to bolster our forces. The problem, however, is that by the time the ships in orbit reach the position, the Oceania Fleet will be here for some time already. So if you intend to stick to your plan, it means they'll be able to reinforce us some time after the battle starts."

Much to everyone's surprise Athrun actually smiled when he heard the news. He studied the map for a short while and nodded, apparently confirming something. "You know, I think that's even better. If they deploy after the battle has begun, they'll be able to catch the Alliance by surprise and perhaps, deliver a strong enough blow to end it. By the way, how many Mobile Suits there will be?"

"From what I know it's a reinforced squad of twelve Mobile Suits, led by Commander Elsman."

"The Elsman Team?" Dearka winced when he saw his comrades turn towards him. "Oh, that's just great. Just what I need, a family visit from my dear brother."

The grin on Yzak's face was so wide it appeared to be stretching all the way to his ears. "Well, well, well, we finally get to see the famous Commander Elsman. Someone, please, I don't care who, remind me not to miss their joyous meeting. I'll bring the popcorn." For the other members of Zala Team, the situation was unique. For the first time it was Dearka who appeared to be angry while Yzak was the one smiling. A truly unusual situation.

Sensing the approach of another pointless squabble, Athrun decided to intervene before it was too late. "Hey, it doesn't matter who's in charge of the drop team. Most likely we won't meet them at all. So there's no reason to get worked up. We simply go in and do our job. Is that clear?" He finished with an unusual commanding tone in his voice. Yzak and Dearka gave him strange looks and eventually nodded, however Athrun was fully aware that they did it just to shut him up and would continue somewhere else. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. Being in charge was hell, pure hell.

xxxxx

It was so strange, Murrue wondered, the advance of information technology systems had done wonders in bringing everyone closer and making the world feel smaller. Over the years, hell, centuries, people had been free to travel to wherever they wished. Various barriers had been removed by the massive flow of international information, allowing one to live in any part of the world and still remain in touch with everyone. Of course the N-jammers had messed that up quite a bit, but the fact remained. In order to make it easier for populations of various nations understand each other, a single language had been adopted, so that communicating with others would be easy. This language was taught in every country, in every school, making it impossible not to learn it. Sure, the old languages were still around, no one wanted to let go of that particular part of their cultural heritage, but they were focused only around their home regions. At least that's what Murrue thought.

Unfortunately, the person, Captain Vitaly Kurov, sitting in front of her seemed to be an exception to this rule. Sure, he understood them and replied to the best of his abilities, but it was clearly obvious that this man spoke in his native language whenever possible. They were sitting in the same meeting room Viktor had briefed them on Circ-City in. It had happened some time ago, but the feeling was the same. On one side of the table, there were the officers from the Archangel. Murrue herself, Natarle, Mu. In addition, Maria had also been very interested in this meeting, so she was also present.

On the other side there was a single man, the leader and also the Captain of the crew they had rescued a few hours earlier. He was wearing a simple set of Atlantic Federation Navy uniform, since his original one had been rendered useless by the adventures he had experienced ever since his ship had been attacked.

Murrue watched him run his hand across his shaved head, over the large amount of tiny, already healing scars and small cuts. It pained her to question him when Vitaly was in such a condition, but it was because of him that this meeting was taking place. He had asked them for a chance to talk not the other way around. And though Murrue would have preferred to let him have a rest and receive proper medical attention, Vitaly had insisted on the meeting, stating that he had something very important to discuss.

They had already, through monstrous effort, talked over the events which had led them to the current situation, but so far, there had been no mention of something vital. At least something that would warrant calling an instant meeting. However, Murrue was suspecting that Vitaly was about to reveal what was really bothering him.

Vitaly stopped scratching his scalp. "Okay, like I did say. Us were attack by ZAFT vessel … sub. Lot of my men killed, dead. They using strange machines, never see them before. Look like Mobile Suits, but different. Very high tech. Five total. Us, no chance." His butchered language was hard enough to understand already, the thick Russian accent made understanding him even more difficult. "So they sink us and going away. Most likely going to rest of fleet. The fleet is located near Marshall Islands, so it not far. Must go and warn them about ZAFT. Maybe they know, maybe not, don't want to risk it."

"Pardon me, but what is the Alliance forces doing in Marshall Islands? As far as I know, there's no military target in the region." Natarle interrupted him in order to get a brief moment of rest from the near incomprehensible language.

"Perhaps they're building a new base at the location? ZAFT navy has been harassing our convoys for quite some time; a naval base so close to Carpentaria would be a major threat to ZAFT's operations in this region." Murrue offered her own version.

However, Vitaly shook his head in denial. "No. No base. It is recovery operation. Several days ago we see something fall from skies. Don't know what that is, but bosses making big fuss when we report it. So they send lots of ships to recover it and we are ordered to go around and watch for enemies."

"A recovery operation? That's strange. I wonder what is it they're after?"

"Rumor says it a strange Mobile Suit." Vitaly picked up Mu's whisper and replied. "But don't know if it true. Could be anything." He waited for a moment. "So, we go to fleet now?"

Murrue tapped her fingers on the surface of the table as she considered the possibilities. "If we do that, there's a fair chance of running into that submarine carrier, or maybe something else. There's no telling what kind of forces ZAFT has in the area. Therefore, in order to avoid any trouble I think it would be best if we stayed here until dawn and then send out our Skygraspers to scout the way ahead of us before we make any moves."

"No. Not agree. We have go now! If we wait, it too late. The fleet might already be under attack. If so we need help them … Another thing. Lots of my men damaged … wounded. Badly. You have not good enough medical for them. We get them to fleet quickly, they have good medical, they will heal them."

Vitaly was right, Murrue had to admit. If the Eurasian fleet was already under attack, there was no time to lose. When a battle involved Mobile Suits, or most likely Gundams, if her suspicions were correct, every second mattered. Vitaly's point about his wounded crewmembers was also correct. A lot of his men were severely wounded and needed help fast. Unfortunately the Archangel didn't have the facilities, medical personnel or resources to deal with them. Despite the ship's few medics doing the best they could, the prognosis looked bleak. Even with Maria's men helping out, they could not save everyone. Now that she thought about it, they didn't have much of a choice. At least not without sacrificing their humanity.

With only one possible course of action before them it didn't take long for her to make up her mind. "You do make a fine point. We can't stay here for long; our allies might be in danger right now, so we have to help them. Especially if ZAFT's throwing Gundams at them." She looked at Natarle. "Natarle, please notify the bridge to set course for Marshall Islands immediately. Our allies need help."

xxxxx

"Even though we're like night and day our love shall cross the universe. It will help you stand, it will help you walk, and it will always give you the strength you need." The words were the first sound Flay heard when she woke up. She tried to figure out whether the words she had heard were real or just a part of her imagination. When she realized that the words hadn't stopped, she assumed they were not coming from inside her mind, but rather sung by someone nearby. In addition, now that she thought about it, the song was actually very beautiful. Gentle and soft, sung by a single person, definitely a guy and a young one at that.

Carefully focusing her strength in her forehead region, Flay slowly cracked open her eyes. She half expected to be assaulted by a tide of nausea or exhaustion, like it had happened the last few times she'd regained consciousness. Fortunately it didn't happen, and though she still felt weak, her awareness wasn't threatened by anything more. That was a good sign. It meant she was probably waking up for good this time. At least for some while, during which she could probably interact with the outside world with some degree of success.

With her eyes open, she looked around the room, but was forced to blink her eyes a few times in order to do away with the blur. On her second attempt, Flay noticed enough to realize she was in the Archangel's sickbay. A perfectly reasonable place to be, considering what had happened to her. She took a deep, slow breath in order to draw more life into her body and decided to check out who exactly was singing that beautiful song.

"Love will make us stronger than steel? … What is this crap?" A sneer came from somewhere to her left. "How can anyone enjoy this horror show?" A quiet click silenced the song and Flay realized that it had been coming from a radio, not the person she was sharing the room with.

A slow turn of her head offered her a view of a person sitting at the doctor's desk with their back turned against her. At first Flay assumed that the person was the ship's doctor, but a closer look banished that thought. The person was not wearing the white lab coat, but a simple, plain T-shirt. Upon closer inspection Flay noticed a familiar looking set of dark brown hair. Immediately, a sudden rush of relief washed through her. "K-Kira." Flay managed quietly, her throat feeling a bit dry from the lack of recent use. The person stiffened and quickly turned his head towards her. It was only then Flay realized that the person wasn't Kira. "Jack?"

Jack gave her a look that told her she had clearly startled him, but it was quickly replaced by a mild surprise. "Oh, Flay. It's you. Finally decided to rejoin the world of the conscious, eh?" He kept looking at her over his shoulder for a second before returning to whatever he was doing.

"How much time did I spend here?" Flay said when the silence grew uncomfortable. She had half expected Jack, or anyone else for that matter, to be right there next to her, concern written all over the face, when she woke up. At least that's how things were supposed to happen.

In response Jack merely shrugged his shoulders as he continued to rummage through something that sounded like plastic. "I dunno. I had other things to do. I think it has been a week or so, at least according to the rumors, it was some seriously heavy duty shit you went through … What's this?" Flay saw him raise something in front of his face for a closer inspection. She couldn't see what it was, but it hardly mattered.

"A week? I spent here an entire week?" She muttered to herself as she slowly sat up and arranged the pillows so that they supported her back. She considered herself healthy enough to make an attempt of getting out of the bed, but few things prevented that. One, she knew better than to jump out of the bed the second she woke up. Collapsing due to a sudden headrush was not something she wanted to experience. Recovery had to be slow and gradual. The other reason was she was wearing a set of scrubs, though far from being embarrassing, they were not something Flay wanted Jack to see her. Besides she would have to change her clothes if she wanted to leave the sickbay, but that would involve asking Jack to leave. Surprisingly, for some reason, Flay realized she didn't want him to leave, at least not when she still had a few questions to ask. "Has Kira been here?"

"Don't know. He walks around the entire ship, why should I care where he goes? However the few times I did see him; he was either working on that Mobile Suit of his or wondering around the ship with that usual vacant look on his face."

"Oh. I see." Flay sighed and looked at her hands in her lap. She idly rubbed her thumb against the palm and sighed again. There was that silence again. She was about to try to start a conversation again when Jack beat her to it.

"By the way, I've been thinking about what happened at the hangar back then and there's one thing I don't understand. What did I do to make you act like that?"

Flay frowned at the strange question. "Umm, what?" Why was Jack asking her something like that? Was he concerned about her? Sorry? Did he … pity her? The last though almost made her gasp, but the memory of that look banished the thought. No, whatever the reason behind the question, pity was not part of it.

"I want to know, how did I manage to do that? I've never caused anyone to scream like that just by saying a couple of words. Usually it involves some physical effort to achieve that. You, however, were just standing there, talking more or less like a normal person, at least until you looked at me strangely and started crying and screaming across the entire hangar. Now, if it was caused by me I'd like to know that, because being able to make others start bawling their eyes out can be a hell of an advantage." Jack explained and finally turned to face her completely.

Flay's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Jack's face. Underneath the left eye was a clearly recognizable shiner. It wasn't swollen anymore, but the mark was clearly visible. In addition there seemed to be a small scar on his forehead, near the left temple where the skin had been cut recently. A pair of similar, already healing wounds graced the bottom lip. "What … what happened to you?" Flay gasped when she saw Jack's face. The sight was enough for her to forget the question.

"This? It's nothing. I just slipped in the galley this morning and accidentally shoved my hand in the frying pan when I tried to grab for support." Jack mistook what she had been asking about and showed her his right palm, where a nasty looking burn mark was clearly visible. "It looks worse than it actually is, but I've been having problems finding something to treat it with." He pointed over his shoulder where a whole bunch of various medical supplies were scattered all over the small desk.

"Not, that. I was talking about your face." Flay wasn't sure which wound she should worry about more.

Jack ran his fingers over the shiner. "Oh, I got these when some fucks jumped me a few days ago. I was walking back to my cabin when I bumped into three mechanics. The bastards started accusing me of being a heartless monster." To Flay's ears Jack seemed to be more upset with ambush itself than the accusation. "They said that I should have helped you when you collapsed, and that should be more careful around someone who has been so unfortunate … When I said that I didn't help because you didn't ask for any help, they beat me up … bastards." Jack spat. What he didn't mention was that retaliatory action had already been taken. Sure, slipping finely crushed glass into their meals wasn't the most immediate payback, but it would pay off eventually as the glass would slowly cut apart their guts and leave the trio coughing up blood and pieces of them in a couple of months.

Flay found the term very apt, however it was for a different reason. Though she was upset by learning that the mechanics had attacked Jack, her frustration was caused by their motivation. She did not need their pity, and though she certainly felt unfortunate, she had no desire to hear it from others. As a result, her opinion on her supposed champions went down a fair amount of notches. As for Jack, his statement about not helping her because she hadn't asked him to made her feel slightly better. Some part of her actually liked that aspect of his personality.

"Oi! Hello!" Flay suddenly realized that Jack was staring her in the face. Not just that, but he was doing it from less than a meter away. Apparently he had moved towards her during her short contemplation. "Stop spacing out and answer my question. Or maybe you'd rather give me another demonstration?"

Flay jerked away from him with a sharp gasp, which drew a wide grin from Jack, and blinked a few times. "What? What question?"

"The one I asked. What caused you to act like that back then? Was it me or something else?"

"Oh, right. It was because I … umm, it's a personal issue." Flay didn't feel like revealing her worries to him. However, Jack apparently didn't seem to take the hint.

"A personal issue?" Jack arched his eyebrow. "You screamed, cried and collapsed to the floor because of a personal issue? You probably have a very problematic personality then, Flay … Personal issue, that's new." He muttered as he returned to his chair and started digging through the medical supplies again, though he did position the chair so that he could keep an eye on her.

"So you've never experienced something like that, huh? You never did something you regretted later, or realized how helpless and lonely you are, or that no one really cares for you, and during the few times they do, they try to pity you and call you unfortunate." Flay tried to sound angry, but the recent emotional blowout had drained her of most anger, now she sounded merely annoyed rather than angry.

"Nope."

"What?"

"No, I've never felt bad about my actions. I can easily take care of myself and I don't trust others enough in order to need their company. And I don't give a fuck about what others think about me." Jack explained his previous answer with slight annoyance, as if explaining something very obvious. "To be honest, I am constantly surprised when others say they regret what they did. It's pathetic; it's as if they're lacking a backbone. Sure, I wouldn't say anything if this phenomenon was exhibited by one, maybe two people, but from what I've seen, almost everyone seems to be doing it. Including you."

"Even if they realize they did something wrong? Is regretting their actions then also pathetic?" Flay was actually very interested to hear the answer. Perhaps it could offer her new solutions to her own problems.

Now it was Jack who was worked up. He tried to bang his hurt palm against the desk in order to get his point across, but decided otherwise at the last moment. "What for? Why would you even want to regret your past actions in the first place? You made a decision, made your choice and that's it. It's impossible to change it. So there's no point in worrying about it. Those who worry about making a choice, should either grow a pair, or allow others to decide for them and live their lives like the fucking dogs that they are."

"It's all well and good, but what I meant is that sometimes a bad choice can hurt others cause a great deal of suffering to many others…"

"Fuck others! Who the hell cares about some loser who whines to you about how horrible their life is because of something what you did. That is their problem. You simply tell them to piss off and deal with their problems for themselves." Jack cut her off fiercely. Flay realized that this had gone way past a simple conversation. "I'm not accountable to them, I do not report to anyone. So why should I care about their problems? The only person … the only single person you should be accountable to is yourself. No one else matters, because they are different. They are not you. Therefore, as long as you make a choice that satisfies you, nothing else matters."

Flay stared at him with wide eyes, considering what she had just heard. Suddenly, she couldn't hold back a short chuckle. A short chuckle that soon turned into a genuine, amused laugh. It was so incredible, so surreal. The whole situation was just so funny she couldn't bear it, perhaps she hadn't fully recovered. But there she was, only a few minutes after awakening from a severe exhaustion, caused by a serious nervous breakdown, only to be pulled into a philosophical discussion about worldviews, choices and responsibility. By all means she should be lying in her bed, sleepy and confused, and waiting for a doctor to come and check up on her. Instead she got Jack with his egoistic and irresponsible personality. Flay laughed again, part of her wondering when was the last time she had a good laugh. For the first time in a very long while, she actually felt happy, at least for a moment.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that his entire situation is nothing what I expected when I woke up." Flay held up one hand in a placating gesture when she saw the confused look on his face. He clearly had been expecting a similarly philosophical reply, perhaps an attempt to shoot some holes in his logic or something like that, but not laughter. She took a couple of deep breaths in order to calm down. "If I knew beforehand that I would be presented with such a discussion, I would have prepared some points of my own."

Still cooling down from his brief rant, Jack stared at the giggling redhead and shook his head in mild confusion. "You're a very strange girl, Flay. I'll give you that." He even managed a laugh of his own. "Then again, I guess it is kinda funny. When I walked in here I expected to be able to treat this thing in peace and quiet." He once again showed her his palm. "Instead I got treated to a rather strange conversation." They both laughed again. After he was done, Jack grabbed a small pack of gauze, tore it open and started wrapping it around his hand.

Flay watched him make a couple of unsuccessful attempts of bandaging the burn before deciding to help out. "Jack, maybe you can let me help you? I don't think you'll manage to do it with just one hand."

"No need. I can do this on my own." Jack replied through gritted teeth. He had resorted to using his teeth to replace the second set of fingers, crucial in the procedure he was performing. "It's not the first time I have to deal with this kind of crap. I just haven't done it in a very long while, so I'm a bit out of practice. Besides, I don't feel safe letting you near my wound."

"Why? You don't trust me?"

"Yes. I don't trust you or anyone else. It's a personal rule." Jack replied frankly as he finished tying the knot. He opened and closed his hand a few times, checking the integrity of the bandage. Satisfied with his work, he continued. "It has helped me to avoid trouble more than a couple of times so I see no reason to stop following it … Anyway…" He stood up and started walking towards the door. "I think I should go."

"Go? Why? Can't you stay a bit longer?" Flay was surprised. Both at Jack suddenly leaving and her willingness to spend more time in his company.

In response Jack shrugged. "Why should I stay? I did what I came here to do. There's no point in spending more time in this room. If you want to talk, talk to Kira. Now that the girl he used to hang out with is gone, maybe you'll have a chance to do whatever you want with him." With those words he opened the door and stepped outside. "Bye." He said over his shoulder before leaving Flay alone with her thoughts.

With a deep sigh Flay leaned back into the pillows, so that she was lying again instead of sitting, and closed her eyes. _Why did I ask him to stay?_ The thought swirled inside her head. The obvious answer was, she wanted someone to talk to. There was nothing wrong with that. It was a fairly logical want after waking up from a very long sleep.

However, something still felt wrong. Unexplained. As if there was a different meaning behind the thought. As if her question had been caused not by the fact of being left alone, but being left alone by Jack. For some reason, Jack seemed to be different from everyone else. Hell, he was different, his behavior in the hangar and the recent conversation had proved it, but there was more than that. Something else. Something that set Jack apart from others in Flay's eyes only. Something only she had found and could see. Flay could not tell what it exactly was, it was only an intangible, faint sensation, but it was there. One thing was certain, though, Flay was eager to spend more time in Jack's company.

xxxxx

"And this is supposed to be a mere part of the original fleet? Look at all the ships! They're a goddamn fleet by themselves!" Neumann could not hold back when he saw the amount of ships before them as the Archangel made its way past the numerous islands towards the biggest island in the region.

They had arrived at Marshall Islands a short while ago and had been immediately contacted by the Alliance forces inquiring about their presence. When all explanations had been made, the Archangel had been asked to follow a set course in the heart of the island group. At first they had been suspicious of the request, but when they saw their supposed destination, everything fell in place. They had been asked to head towards a particular island because it served as a land based command point and was most likely to be the location where the person in command of all Alliance forces could be found.

Speaking of Alliance forces, Neumann's reaction was well placed. There seemed to be a sizable force operating in the area. Judging from the sensor scans, there were approximately twenty ships nearby. Further analysis of the task force had indicated half a dozen frigates, an equal amount of destroyers, a pair of cruisers and a light aircraft carrier which was most likely the flagship of the task force. In addition, there were also three transport ships and a single salvage vessel. All things pointed towards a salvage operation taking place.

"You see? I was saying truth. It really salvage operation." Vitaly turned around and threw a significant look at some bridge crewmembers, as if accusing them of doubting him. Not that anyone really doubted him, but there were some rumors floating around, so perhaps Vitaly's suspicions had been right. "Now we just meet Admiral Groskoev and tell about ZAFT."

"I think they're already expecting an attack. The ships have already taken defensive formations and from what I saw, several islands have been fortified by infantry and light armor." Natarle pointed out from her position in the CIC. "If that's true, our warning is not needed anymore."

Murrue noted her subordinate's words and checked the ship positions herself. Natarle was right, they were preparing for an attack. Still, just because their message was useless, didn't mean their journey had been for nothing. "Doesn't matter. We still need to get the wounded to a proper sickbay. So we'll have to stay here regardless of the importance of our message."

At that moment the console Kuzzey was manning, beeped, indicating an incoming signal. "Incoming signal. We're being hailed." Kuzzey reported at once.

"On screen." Murrue ordered curtly and stood up in order to properly greet the person calling them. The display lit up and revealed a rather intimidating looking man, wearing the uniform of a Rear Admiral. Half of his face was covered by a thick, greying beard which made him look even more imposing. He stood tall and proud, his eyes barely moving as he took in as many details of the Archangel's bridge as possible. Only after he was done observing the background did he deign to look directly at Murrue who was already saluting him. "Greetings, I am Captain Murrue Ramius of the Earth Alliance's 11th Space Fleet. I am the commanding officer of this ship, the Archangel. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"I know. I was informed about your arrival after the previous message." The man negligently returned the salute. Though it was mostly because of long time of performing the gesture rather than disrespect. "I am Rear Admiral Sergei Groskoev. From what I understand, you rescued the survivors from a destroyed Eurasian ship. For that I'm grateful. However…" His face hardened. "I am not satisfied with you coming here. An Atlantic Federation ship is not welcome here."

The last part caught Murrue off guard. She hadn't expected such hostility for no apparent reason. "I'm sorry?" She stumbled over her words a bit. "I came here under the suggestion of Captain Kurov in order to warn you about a potential ZAFT submarine carrier in the area and to transport several wounded sailors to more appropriate medical facilities. If our presence is not welcome here, we'll be happy to leave as soon as transportation of the wounded is done."

Sergei stared at her pensively for several minutes, his gaze was so intent it made Murrue want to back away or look aside. Just as she was about to mask her uneasiness with a slight shift in her posture, Vitally stepped into her field of view whilst making sure he was invisible to the Admiral. Obviously knowing something she didn't, Vitaly shook his head and stood at attention while continuing to shake his head just slightly. Realizing the hidden message Murrue made doubly sure not to move or flinch even a bit, as she stared back at the display.

Eventually Sergei seemed to reach a conclusion and relaxed slightly. He nodded several times, mostly to himself, and sighed. "Very well. I'll order someone to take care of the wounded. Unfortunately, it looks like you are not aware of the current situation. There are much bigger problems at hand that you can imagine."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd rather not explain it like this. Come to the command post on this island and I will explain everything in more detail. Needless to say, you won't be able to leave as easy as you'd like." Sergei replied and nodded to someone Murrue couldn't see. A second later the communication was cut and the display turned black.

"Impressive man." Vitaly commented as soon as he was sure the transmission was over. "You do good. You did not move."

Murrue slumped back in her seat. She was more exhausted than she thought. All from a single conversation. "What was that all about?" She looked at Vitaly, expecting and explanation.

Vitaly smiled self-satisfactory and rubbed his chin. "Sergei dislikes your people. Atlantic Federation. He thinks you all … convicts." He struggled for the correct term. "He is patriot of Eurasia and dislike working with you. What he did now, was testing you. He testing if you strong … ehh, guts. Whether you got guts. You pass."

"And what if I didn't?" Murrue wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"He tell us to go." Vitaly shrugged. "He don't care about damaged people then. Anyway we go now. See what he tell you."

xxxxx

Approximately thirty minutes later Murrue, Mu, Maria and Vitaly were entering a small camp in the northern part of the island they had disembarked on. Natarle had been left behind in order to take care of the ship and oversee the transportation of the wounded sailors while Murrue was away.

Even though it was very early in the morning, the camp was bristling with activity as various vehicles flowed from the beach and, after passing through the camp, disappeared in the jungle. All around them various tents and simple buildings had been erected in order to supervise and control all aspects of the operation. However, despite its importance, the camp itself looked to be in the process of being torn down. Whatever was going on, it was coming to an end and the people were preparing to leave.

As they made their way towards the tent Vitaly indicated as the command center, Mu stopped and suddenly pointed off to the side, where among various containers, a large truck was parked. The truck itself looked as ordinary as possible. That could not be said about the cargo it carried. At first, it looked like a large piece of junk. An unidentifiable collection of metal parts intended for some equally uncertain purpose. However, they soon realized that the object was actually a giant, heavily armored gauntlet. A scorched and battered hand with two of its fingers missing.

"Look like it really is Mobile Suit that crash here." Vitaly briefly forgot about his companions and walked over to the hand for a better look.

"That does not belong to a Mobile Suit I know of." Maria said quietly so that no one else but Mu and Murrue could hear her. "I haven't seen a design like this before."

Mu seemed to be thinking along the same path. "Neither have I. At least not on a Mobile Suit. If I were to guess, I'd say this thing belongs … belonged to a AC." He looked around, searching for more parts, but either there were none, or they were moved out of sight. "I think it's safe to say that a AC has crashed somewhere around here and these guys were sent here to recover it."

"It also explains why they put a guy like Sergei in charge of the operation. Remember, Vitaly said he was part of Eurasian fleet sent to reinforce Alaska. From the look of things they want to recover the AC and keep it for themselves." Maria added sourly. "And these guys are supposed to be our allies... Figures, typical Eurasians."

"Shh." Murrue warned her when Vitaly returned from his observation. The last thing they needed was to start an argument over politics in the middle of Eurasian camp. Once she was certain Maria was quiet, she turned her attention towards Vitaly. "Pardon me, but shouldn't we be meeting the Admiral? I think he's waiting for us."

"Ah, yes, yes. Right. The Admiral. Follow." Vitaly said and led the way. They made their way towards the command tent, where a pair of soldiers were guarding the entrance. One of the soldiers pulled the tent flap aside, allowing them to enter. The interior of the tent was exactly as they had expected. Several computers, radios, maps, tables, coffee machines, folding chairs and other necessary instruments required for running a large scale salvage operation.

It didn't take long for them to find Sergei. The Admiral was standing in the middle of the room, leaning over a large map, and consulting with several officers about something Murrue could not understand. She could hear him perfectly, his voice was strong enough to be heard in the entire tent. The reason why she couldn't make out what Sergei was talking about, was because he was speaking Russian.

Vitaly, glad to hear his native language again, marched over to the table and saluted, obviously reporting his presence to the man, if Murrue guessed right. It didn't help matters that Vitaly had resorted to Russian as well. If anything, judging from the looks they received from the personnel around them, these people were enjoying the chance to ignore the rule demanding that all conversations should be held in the official language adopted by OMNI Enforcer.

After a very brief conversation with Vitaly, Sergei decided that it was enough of torturing the Archangel's crew and switched his language. "Captain Ramius, welcome. Usually I'd say that it's nice to see our fellow allies, but as I'm sure Vitaly already told you, I am not so fond of your country."

"Yes, I am aware of that. However, I don't think politics have anything to do with this situation." Murrue replied with some steel in her voice. Outnumbered or not, she wasn't going to let this man look down on her. "We are here as allies, fighting against a common foe, not each other."

Sergei was impressed, even though he tried his best not to show it, his eyes betrayed enough for Murrue. "You are wrong. In these days, politics have something to do with everything. But you are right. We are not here to argue about that. Not when there are other problems at hand."

"Yes, you mentioned something about not being able to leave this area." Murrue was glad of the change of topics. "What is it you wanted to tell us?"

In response Sergei raised one finger. "Before I explain, do you know why we are here in the first place?"

"Yes. Vitaly told us about a strange Mobile Suit being recovered after it crashed here."

"Ah. Good. The you know why we can't leave this place as quickly as we'd like to." He pointed at the map, indicating their location. "The Mobile Suit crashed on this island. Most of the body is intact, but there are several, smaller pieces of it scattered all over this region." He pointed at few more marks on the map. "Some of them have fallen in the ocean, others have been found on nearby islands. We have recovered most of them, but we're still having problems with the main body and those parts lying at the bottom of the ocean. We need time to recover them, but that is something we don't have."

"The problem is that we are not alone. Yesterday we discovered a ZAFT submarine carrier in the vicinity. So far they have only observed our actions and haven't done anything. We assume they still don't know we're aware of them, otherwise they would have done something." He smirked to himself. So much for superior stealth technology. "Thing is, they are not the problem. Our long range patrols have discovered a group of enemy ships heading in our direction. We assume they know what's going on here and want to prevent it from falling in our hands. Obviously we don't care what they want, the Mobile Suit is ours. I think you know what this means?" No one tried to answer his question. Not when the answer was brutally obvious even to the dimmest person. "Reports indicate that they'll be here in just over two hours."

"So that's what you meant by us not being able to leave easily. This entire region is about to become a battlefield." Maria stared at the map and then at Sergei. "And by the time we finish unloading the wounded, they'll be on top of us. Excellent, just fucking excellent. Why didn't you tell us about this?"

Sergei narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Before I answer. Who are you?"

"Major Maria Williams. 26th Atlantic Federation Expeditionary division, 7th armored battalion, 3rd company." Maria rattled off quickly. "Why didn't you tell us?" She repeated the question, a tad forcefully.

"You didn't ask." Sergei retorted, fixing the Major with his gaze, before dismissing her as beneath him and switching over to Murrue. "The reason why I didn't tell you is…" He fell silent, as if unable to say what he had in mind. Finally he managed to swallow his pride. "It is because I need your help. If the enemy had ships only, I'd probably wouldn't ask you for help. But that submarine carrier out there worries me. There might be more submarine carriers in that fleet. Which means Mobile Suits. I can't deal with them. I don't have enough forces to stand up against the enemy of that size. I need your help." He forced his voice to betray little of the shame that boiled inside him. The thought of asking an Atlantic Federation ship for help was almost unbearable. Still, his professionalism was strong enough for him to see reason. Now was not the time for politics. "Captain, I've heard things about your ship. I know you dealt with the Desert Tiger in Africa and managed to win, despite the odds. Now I'm hoping you'd do the same here."

"Yes. We'll help." Murrue replied instantly. There wasn't anything to consider. Abandoning her allies, no matter their differences, was, in her eyes, nothing short of treason. "I don't care about politics or what our countries think of each other. All that matters is we do what's right and put our differences aside. I'll send out our pilots as soon as I return to the Archangel. With the Strike, the Pulverizer and the Dingo out in the field, I think we'll be able to win." Just as she expected, Sergei didn't say anything. He merely nodded. But to her that was enough. Besides, she was just doing her job. Murrue was about to leave when she heard Maria's voice.

"What do you have in terms of combat vehicles? Any tanks?" Sergei did not answer. Instead, one of the nearby officers, a Captain, stepped forward.

"No, ma'am." Maria's eye twitched slightly. "Just light armor and plenty of fortified positions, but as far as tanks, nothing."

"I see." Maria made a decision of her own. Nodding thanks to the Captain, she faced Sergei and stared him right in the eyes. "I'll be honest. Just as you don't like me, I don't harbor warm feelings towards Eurasians. You guys screwed us over real bad in the past. But as Captain Ramius just said, we're all in this together. Like it or not. And if I have to choose between working with Eurasians or making things easier for ZAFT, I prefer messing lives up for people." She looked back at Murrue. "I'll participate in this as well. Just let us unload the Pumba before you launch."

"Pumba?" Sergei arched an eyebrow.

Maria grinned widely. "Yes, Admiral. A mean, heavily armored eighty three ton warthog that kicks the crap out of anything it sees.

xxxxx

Meanwhile, unknown to Alliance and ZAFT forces near Marshall Islands, another formation was making its way towards the island group. Four ships, sent out several days ago from Porta Panama, cut through the water as quickly as they could. They could not be late. The Holy Grail belonged to Atlantic Federation…


	29. Battle for the Holy Grail, part I

„Far would it be from me, a lowly, expendable minion, to question the infinite wisdom of my superior officer, whom I immensely respect and obey to the best of my abilities, but what the fuck are we doing here, Maria? Why the hell we are here in the first place?" Felix's disgruntled voice interrupted the silence that had reigned in the tank. Or at least the near silence, since with all the systems working, even in low power mode, the inside of the Warchief wasn't exactly quiet.

They'd been sitting inside the tank for an hour or so. And with nothing to do, everyone was starting to get bored. Or rather, they'd been bored for quite a while now, but managed to avoid showing it until now, where it became unbearable and they needed to blow off the suspense. Though, truth be told, Maria seemed to be the only person still capable of remaining focused, her face glued to the camera displays that showed her the view outside. Quite what she saw out there was beyond him, since Felix's displays showed nothing but vegetation, which was boring as hell. In fact it was so boring, he had made up his mind to shred a couple of palm trees with the coax the moment he could get away with doing so.

"We're helping out those Eurasian guys. Otherwise they'll get fucked. Hard." Maria finally deigned to answer his question. She'd been expecting this, might as well get over it while they had time.

"And that's bad because?" The tank's radio operator fell behind Felix.

The driver also voiced his opinion, which was the same as his comrades'. "I agree with Robert. Eurasians screwed us over when they abandoned us at Suez. Of course, given how they performed, the battle was doomed before it began anyway, but the point remains. They fled and they left us to die. Why should we be risking our lives for these maggots? What do we owe them?"

"Truth be told I'm not completely satisfied with the situation myself." Maria rubbed the back of her helmet, which was purely a habitual gesture. "And it is like you said, we don't owe them anything." That shut them all up; all three men stared at their commanding officer in confusion. They'd been expecting an explanation not a confession saying that Maria agreed with them. Their silence bought enough time for Maria to line up the real point she wanted to get across to them. "We're doing this for several reasons. One is a practical one. The Patchworkers want to get their hands on that AC. If they do that, this war will become a lot nastier than it already is. Two, if I had to choose who gets that thing, I'd certainly go with Eurasians. Even though they are a bunch of selfish backstabbing bastards, they are the lesser evil. Lastly, we're doing this because we owe Murrue for what she has done for us. She has made up her mind to help these guys; therefore, by helping them as well, we can make things a lot easier for her. Besides, it won't matter if we lose here. No one would be going home if that were to happen."

"You know, you could have just simply said that this is your decision and that's that. No need to dish out a verbal beat down. Besides there were an awful lot of long words in there, so I'm afraid I didn't quite understand what you just said. Care to repeat that?" Felix spoke up from his position, faking confusion as he tried to brighten up the gloomy atmosphere. Though Martin and Robert did chuckle a bit, Felix himself was unable to, when Maria's foot came down on top of his helmet with a long practiced ease.

"Yeah, keep doing that and I'll have you clean the tank all by yourself once we're done with this. I'll make sure to do a couple of nice rides along the beach to really get some dirt between the wheels. See how you'll like it. Maybe I'll have you do some painting as well while you're at it. A few coats of paint can't hurt." Maria replied with a devilish grin. Of course everyone knew she was just joking and Felix had little to worry about. All the friendly ribbing was just a way to relieve stress before the battle began. And, if their suspicions were correct, the battle was going to be a messy one.

Unsurprisingly it was the ships that would play the decisive part of the battle. The side which won the naval battle would gain the upper hand in land warfare as well, especially since the land warfare would be rather insignificant, limited to a couple of islands as it was. In addition, the only way to transport the remains of the AC was by sea, so it was very important to have at least one ship capable of performing the said transportation.

Still, the land battle also played an important role in the outcome of the battle. After all, one had to retrieve the AC before it could be transported, and it could only be done after securing the crash sites. This meant that the enemy fleet could not simply saturate the area with artillery fire before moving in, not if they wanted to capture the AC more or less intact. The only solution was to land their own forces on the islands and slowly retake them one by one without the support of heavy artillery from their ships.

For Maria, this kind of situation was probably the best she could hope for. With most of the enemy force consisting of marines and rapid response forces, they would be very short on heavily armored vehicles, such as tanks, since no one expected to encounter a tank on a relatively small island. Something Maria was eager to surprise them with. Still, there were Mobile Suits to consider, but with the Archangel's own machines engaging any ZAFT Mobile Suits, Maria doubted she'd encounter much of the hated things.

When the chuckles and remarks died down, Maria decided it was time to get serious and go over their battle plan one more time. Her crew knew what to do, she was certain about it, however, it never hurt to err on the side of caution. Better to repeat one plan a hundred times over and over again, than doing nothing and risking an increased chance of someone messing something up. "Okay people, I assume you're fully aware of what's about to happen. Nonetheless, I think it would be nice if we went over it one more time, just to be sure." No comments, though there was something that sounded like a groan coming from below her. "Like I told you, we do nothing at all. When the squids start slugging it out, most of their firepower will be aimed at each other, so we have little to worry about. Anyway, our task is to prevent their forces from capturing the main camp. That's where most of that AC is located. Therefore, we'll wait until their forces have landed on the beach before charging in and kicking their asses off this island. Any questions?" As expected there were none. They all knew the plan and they all knew what to do. "Good." Maria added and turned her gaze towards one of the displays. The image, amplified by Warchief's powerful optics, offered her a narrow view of the ocean between the trees. She could already see the small silhouettes of the enemy ships. _Good. _She smiled. _Let them come. _

xxxxx

"Someone, please remind me, why are we waiting for the launch here, and not in our Mobile Suits? Wouldn't it be more efficient to allow us to board our machines now, so that we don't have to waste any time once the good Captain decides to act?" Dearka yawned and stretched his arms in the air. He then proceeded to work out a kink in his neck while managing to sneak a quick glance at Juliet's ass, when the girl bent down to pick up the helmet she had accidentally dropped.

Nicol, being offered the same view since he was standing near Dearka, blushed and quickly turned away, focusing his sight on his locker in front of him. "Uh, it's because we're supposed to be running silent right now. Loading our Mobile Suits into the launch tubes or maneuvering in a position to do so will announce our position to the enemy, since both of these actions make hell of a lot noise."

"I think that's hardly an issue with her dropping that thing all the time." Yzak nodded towards Juliet. "I'm amazed they haven't found us already." He tried to close his locker, but the bent doors wouldn't close properly. "When I find the fucker who did this…"

"I think it was that engineering room guy you had an argument with, a few says ago. You know, that shorty with freckles." Juliet provided as she picked up her helmet and started tossing it in the air again. "Besides, this room is soundproof. You can do anything you want in here and no one would hear a thing." She smiled innocently when she saw Athrun's frown.

"I wonder for how long we will have to stay here, we've been here for half an hour already. I can't stand this anymore, I'm hungry and I need to take a piss." Dearka complained petulantly. "As if that wasn't enough, but this suit is riding up my ass." Everyone winced at that piece of information.

"If you can't hold it then do it in your fucking suit! You know as well as I do that there is a special diaper in the suit for exactly that purpose!" Yzak growled and slammed the door shut. That seemed to be working, the locker remained closed. "But don't go telling us crap no one wants to hear."

"Do it in my suit? And keep wearing for who knows how long afterwards? What am I? Three? That is meant for emergencies only." Dearka countered in an equally frustrated voice.

"Then hold it in! You're not leaving this room anyway."

"Yzak is right, Dearka. The order to launch could come any moment. We will have only a few seconds to board our machines, before they start the launch process. The timing has to be perfect, since the plan is for us to strike at the exact moment when the enemy commits their forces to battle and will be unable to adapt quickly enough to our deployment." Athrun supported his comrade from where he was leaning against the wall, next to the doors.

"Okay, I get it. Super important timing required … sheesh." Dearka admitted defeat. "Bunch of fucking sadists." He added quietly and took a couple of deep breaths to shift his thoughts away from his bladder. A second later, everyone in the room jumped slightly, as the alarm klaxons started wailing throughout the entire sub. "All right! It's go time!" Dearka cheered and made his way towards the exit. His rush was interrupted, however, when the entire sub trembled under his feet, as it was kicked into high gear and sent towards the surface at once.

A loud bang was followed by a pained moan, as Nicol smashed his forehead against his locker. Similarly, Yzak was also thrown against his locker, though in his case it was his back that met the metal surface. Juliet and Dearka managed to avoid any kind of injuries, by aiming their stumbles at the small couch in the middle of the changing room. Of them all, Athrun was the only one who remained standing, mostly because he had managed to anchor himself against the doorframe. "What's going on? This is not supposed to happen!"

"Really? I had no idea! You're probably a fuckin' genius, Zala!" Yzak could not contain his dislike, as he slowly clambered back to his feet.

Paying no attention to his comrade, Athrun slammed his hand down on the intercom in order to demand some answers. "Bridge? What the hell was that? What's going on?"

The reply was a mixture of voices. Reports, orders and announcements flowing back and forth among the bridge crew. Finally, the person whom Athrun had contacted, realized that there was an incoming call. Still, the person was clearly busy by other tasks, since his answer was very distracted, as he kept up several conversations at once. "We've been discovered … Hey, Mary, contact the fleet, tell them we're … No, Captain's order are not to change anything yet … Looks like a pair of… Shit! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" The last sentence came over not just the intercom, but the entire sub's PA system as well. Athrun didn't need to be told twice. He had heard that phrase too many times in the movies to know what was about to happen. His friends had also received the message, since they dropped to the floor as one. Juliet and Nicol even managed to put their helmets on before time ran out. The entire sub shook again; only this time the blow was much stronger and sent them all sliding towards the back wall, where they met in on top of each other in one big pile. At the same time, a loud groan, accompanied with a distant blast echoed throughout the sub, rattled every bone in their bodies. A second later, the changing room, along with the rest of the sub, fell into pitch darkness, as the vessel lost its power and began to slowly sink.

xxxxx

The naval bomber finished its bombing run and peeled off in the direction of the carrier for resupply. Daniel watched the surface of the ocean bubble as the underwater explosion died down and let out an admiring whistle. "Wow, that was impressive! You think that got them? Two aerial torpedoes should be enough, don't you think?" Even though he hoped that the sub was destroyed, he knew better than that. Sure, perhaps the crew of the submarine carried hadn't expected a surprise attack and the torpedoes did seem big enough to blast their target apart. Still, Daniel had his doubts. It was rumored that the sub had been the very same that housed their familiar enemies. The four Gundams and a AC. And though they were just as vulnerable to a torpedo attack like anyone else, Daniel wasn't quite sure about it. Not until he saw the bodies.

"I'd say yes. No way could they have survived that." Apparently Jack had more faith in the torpedoes. Daniel wished he could share the certainty and write the sub off, but he couldn't. There was still doubt inside him. "Either way, fuck that sub! Look at those guys over there!" The Dingo pointed its machine gun at the enemy fleet in the far distance, or rather, in the not so far distance. "They sure look like they're itching for a fight." A quick count told them that there were at least twenty ships heading towards them. A lot of them were pretty big and rather bulky, similar to the transport ships the Eurasians had. That could only mean one thing, Mobile Suits. Of course there could be regular forces inside them, not Mobile Suits, but when one realized that the Oceania Union was a close ally to PLANTs and had been fighting alongside ZAFT forces, it seemed highly unlikely that they would avoid using Mobile Suits whenever possible. Especially when Mobile Suits had proved themselves more than capable enough to easily take out most of conventional weapons used by the Alliance.

Not far from them, the Strike rose partially above the tree line in order to get a glimpse of the enemy as well. For this fight Kira had selected the Aile Striker Pack which was becoming his favorite one. Even though it lacked in heavy firepower of devastating close combat abilities, in Kira's opinion, it more than made up with the mobility and solid defense it provided. He scanned the ship in front of him and then turned around to get a good look at the view behind him. They were located on the island which was the closest to the enemy. Behind them was a big cluster of islands of various sizes. Between these islands all six frigates had taken up defensive positions in order to protect the crash sites from airstrikes and provide as much assistance to ground forces as they could. Both cruisers, along with the aircraft carrier, were situated further away, where they would be safe from immediate attack and could participate in the battle with either missile or airstrikes. Archangel, along with the destroyers were slowly circling the island cluster, preparing to attack the main enemy fleet once the battle had begun.

As for Kira, Daniel and Jack, their main task was to tie down the enemy Mobile Suits, whilst intercepting as many landing craft as they could. With the enemy's main advantage negated by the three machines it was assumed that Eurasian forces would be able to deal with the remaining enemies. At least that was the idea. A rather optimistic idea none of the three pilots actually believed in. They were certain, once the enemy Mobile Suits were gone, they would have their hands full with having to help others as well. Perhaps it was the experience speaking or just a sudden wave of pessimism, but all three of them expected something, or a lot of things to go horribly wrong. Nothing ever went the way you wanted it to. It was doubly true when it came to such unpredictable events as battles. Therefore, despite the hopeful predictions, they were already mentally preparing to take on the fleet as well, not just the Mobile Suits.

Just as Kira turned his attention back on the enemy in front of him, the entire world seemed to come apart with a loud roar, as if thunder was rumbling just outside the Strike. In front of him, the enemy fleet was engulfed by thick smoke as missile after missile was launched from the ships. Riding thick pillars of smoke, the missiles shot up straight into the air before arching slightly and then coming down towards their targets. Behind him, the Eurasian forces replied with a missile salvo of their own and soon the entire island group shook and trembled as missile explosions started going off all around them. Despite the visual effects the barrage wasn't nearly as devastating as expected. Most of the missiles were intercepted without even getting near the intended target, filling the skies with explosions like a bizarre version of fireworks. The few missiles that weren't shot down by anti-missile missiles or CIWS emplacements mostly landed in water or slightly off target. The combined effects of N-jammers and ECM defenses made long range missile strikes a very difficult task. Especially against moving targets.

Soon enough the ZAFT fleet started firing their cannons in an attempt to hit the few ships that weren't obscured by islands. The cannon fire was something that almost everyone paid attention to. Unlike missiles, cannon shells couldn't be intercepted. And in the case of a miss, there was a chance of getting blown apart by a shell that struck somewhere behind the target. However, such events were relatively rare. Due to the accurate targeting systems, almost every shell landed very close to the target, resulting in massive pillars of water erupting from the location where the shell had hit the surface of the water. The watery columns rising up for almost twenty meters before coming back down like a waterfall. From time to time some of these waterfalls landed on top of the nearby ship, washing everything that wasn't tied down into the ocean. Still despite the electronic countermeasures working at maximum output, some attacks did strike home.

Daniel raised the Pulverizer's head out from the trees just in time to see one of ZAFT's ships take a missile to its rear section. The explosion was very impressive, a large fireball blossoming into existence for a short moment, leaving black smoke and even some flames in its wake. Still, despite the blast, it didn't look like the ship was out of the fight. Though it did stop moving, apparently because it's engines had been busted by the hit, it wasn't out of the fight just yet. The front part of the ship was briefly obscured by white smoke and four missiles jumped out of the launchers. Daniel idly wondered about where would the missiles end up, but he never managed to find out.

A loud blast from somewhere behind him, made him and Kira jump in their seats. Until then, their island hadn't been targeted by the enemy attacks. Mostly because there were other, better visible targets to shoot and because nothing on this island was shooting at them. Until now. When Daniel turned the Pulverizer around, it didn't take long to realize who was the one behind the disturbance. Especially when that someone fired again. In the middle of a clearing atop of a small mound, completely visible for anyone with a pair of eyes in the forehead, the Dingo was kneeling on one knee, with its 155mm cannon unfolded over its left shoulder, and was firing shell after shell at the enemy fleet, utterly ignoring the original plan. The key part of the plan was to intercept, as in ambush the enemy as they passed them. What Jack was doing right now was the complete and total opposite of the plan.

"BOOM!" Jack laughed over the Dingo's loudspeakers as the HE shell struck the damaged ship, hitting it straight in the bridge section. The spent shell flipped out of the breach and, trailing faint smoke, landed in the dirt. It was soon joined by another one, since Jack didn't keep the chamber loaded for long. This time the shell struck another ship and took its rear turret clean off. The third one fell short and only managed to slightly rock the ship. The next two were clean hits, but like all the previous ones, the rounds struck way above the waterline. As a result, other than the initial damage the ships were still mostly functional and were in no danger of sinking. Had Jack bothered to aim and shoot the hull just below the water, the damage would have been much greater. "Oh, c'mon! I hit like what … four ships? And none of them is going down. What the hell?" He fired again, but the round didn't come even close to its target.

"Jack! What are you doing! We're not supposed to engage the enemy until they send out their Mobile Suits." Kira rushed towards the Dingo, intent of preventing him from firing at the enemy, though considering that their element of surprise was ruined, it would be more sensible to allow Jack to continue the bombardment.

"I'm drawing the enemy attention to us. When they see us, they will have to… wait one." He spotted a truly huge ship in the middle of the enemy formation. In fact there were several of them, but this one was the closest and was practically begging to be shot at. With a casual flick of his hand Jack loaded an AP round into the cannon and aimed it at the ship. He didn't wait for a target lock. With the target that big there was no way he could miss. "Oi, catch this!" The cannon roared again as it sent forth the armor piercing round. A quarter of a second later, the projectile had already left the island, leaving violently shaking trees in its wake.

"Fuck, NO!" Jack yelled when the round veered off target and struck the ocean surface next to the Mobile Suit carrying ship. However, in a turn of events that was nothing short of miraculous, the round, thanks to the extremely flat trajectory, actually skipped off the surface of the water and impacted a nearby cruiser. The armor piercing tip had little trouble penetrating the armored hull. The explosive charge, sitting inside the shell, detonated almost instantly, right in the middle of the cruiser's magazine. The resulting explosion tore the unfortunate ship in half, as its ammunition and missile stockpiles went up in a violent explosion. The blast of the explosion also capsized several of the landing craft that were starting their approach on the islands.

"I mean, fuck yeah!" Jack gasped in surprise, caught completely off guard by the unexpected turn of events. The cruiser, or what was left of it, was rapidly sinking towards the bottom of the ocean. Other nearby ships tried to assist the surviving crew, but in the middle of a naval engagement it was problematic. Either way, that was one ship out of the action. The first one, as it soon turned out. Though both sides had inflicted some damage, none of it had been enough to take a ship completely out of the fight. Obviously, such a lucky shot resulted in the island, occupied by the three machines, receiving a bad kind of attention. Attention which took the form of several missiles and a couple of cannon volleys fired at the center of the island, where Dingo was standing like a targeting dummy.

"Oh, crap!" Daniel managed, shortly before the skies seemed to come crashing down upon them. All three of them tried to run for cover, each hoping that they would not be the ones who got hit. Daniel managed only a few steps before a tightly packed group of shells landed about ten meters away from the Pulverizer. Though of relatively small caliber. The amount of shells was enough that the following blast from the explosion sent the Pulverizer staggering. The stagger soon became a fall when a burning tree trunk slammed into the machine's ankles and tripped it. Daniel didn't even have a chance to realize what was going on before the Pulverizer hit the ground. In fact, he didn't have a chance to think at all. The constant explosions going around him and the intense rattling of the Pulverizer as more and more debris struck the armored surfaces sent him in a near panicked state. It wasn't like that time back in the desert, but he was far from calm. He gripped the sides of his helmeted head and prayed that the Pulverizer did not take a direct hit.

After what felt like eternity, the bombardment became sparse and then stopped altogether. Peace returned to their surroundings once more. There were still explosions going off, but those happened elsewhere and did not concern him. With relief flooding every cell, Daniel calmed down and slowly brought the Pulverizer back up and took in the surroundings. The surrounding area was a mess. The lush forest was gone, replaced by a bombed out landscape of smashed trees, most of which were on fire. Those trees that were still standing were nothing more than stumps. All the bushes and other types of small vegetation were ground into the dirt, forming a layer of mud from which twigs and branches poked skywards like hands of the dead. The air around him was a mixture of smoke and dust. Small chunks of earth and pieces of wood were still raining down, sometimes hitting the Pulverizer as well. The visual cover didn't last for long, the ocean wind was quick to remove the layer of smoke.

Somewhere in front of him Daniel saw several flashes light up for brief moments. A second later he realized that they were followed by what sounded like muffled explosions going off in a steady rhythm. Then came a much brighter flash, accompanied by a familiar cannon blast. It was the Dingo. Daniel took a few steps forward and emerged from the floating dust and smoke. As expected, the first sight that greeted him was the Dingo. The ginger-yellow AC was kneeling inside a shallow crater and firing its machine gun in long bursts. The bright spot on its visor instantly shifted towards the Pulverizer, acknowledging Daniel's presence. A moment later the radio detected an incoming comm.

Even though his face was hidden by the helmet, leaving only his eyes exposed, Daniel could easily tell that Jack was smiling. The words that followed, only confirmed that. "Hey, you're alive. Good. They were bombing your part of the island pretty bad. I was already thinking that you died or something." He paused a moment as he let loose a salvo of missiles. "Either way, no time to chat. We've got company." The Dingo suddenly gunned its boosters and shot out of the crater, sliding across the ground in the usual manner. It was about time already, as more than a dozen of missiles blasted the crater even deeper.

Daniel looked out at the ocean and suddenly found his breath stuck in his throat. Mobile Suits! There were Mobile Suits heading towards them! Ten Ginns, standing on Guul atmospheric flight crafts, were blitzing towards them. Their machine guns aimed at them and spitting round after round at their targets. Daniel looked at them at the best possible moment. A pair of 76mm rounds caught the Pulverizer straight in the core. Fortunately for him, the area was protected by Phase Shift armor, so the projectiles failed to do any kind of noticeable damage. The impact itself sent a message to Daniel's brain, breaking the confusion and galvanizing him to act. It was time to fight!

With a sharp intake of breath, Daniel targeted the nearest Ginn and let loose with the shoulder mounted dual auto cannons. He almost nicked the enemy machine, but the Ginn adroitly moved out of the way. Daniel tried to track his target, but was forced to stop shooting and dodge when a lock-on alarm went off. After spending only a few seconds into the fight he was forced on the defensive when he came under fire from several Ginns. Fortunately, it didn't last for long. A few beam shots from nearby took out the Ginn Daniel had been targeting. One beam blasted apart the Ginn's right leg, sending it into an uncontrolled fall, while two more drilled through the chest region shortly before the machine hit the water and disappeared into the depths. The rest of the formation scattered when Jack hosed them down with a long burst from his machine gun.

Sensing an opportunity Daniel opened up with his 120mm auto cannons again. Just to be sure he added a four missile salvo as well. This time he was lucky. The rounds hit dead on and practically eviscerated the machine in midair. By the time the missiles got to the target, it was already a partially dismembered, flaming wreck. Still, the missiles did what they were supposed to and four explosions engulfed the destroyed Mobile Suit, sending high velocity fragments in every direction. Several of said fragments were caught by the air intakes of one of the Guuls and shredded a large part of its internals, forcing the Ginn, riding it, to abandon the platform and continue the approach with its own thrusters. Unable to move with the speed and agility of a Guul equipped machine, the Ginn was an easy target for Kira. Three beams struck the cockpit region in rapid succession, resulting in the last beam cutting the machine in half.

With three of their number already destroyed, the remaining Ginns let loose with their missile launchers, spewing a swarm of missiles towards the three machines. Daniel barely remembered to keep the Pulverizer facing the missiles, so that the defense system could take them out. He smiled a cocky grin when he imagines the look on the ZAFT pilots' faces when… His mind trailed off when he saw the Dingo firing wildly at the missiles, despite the fact that the AC was also equipped with the same system. Part of him was confused with the unnecessary action. Why would Dingo fire at the missiles if… _there are too many of them! _The thought struck like lightning and he swung the cross-hairs over the missiles and opened up with the bolt cannon and the dual auto cannons. It was too late.

He managed to take out only few of the missiles aimed at him. A few more were taken out by the defense system, through a combination of premature detonation and shrapnel damage from the destroyed missiles. The remaining ones slipped through the defenses and struck the Pulverizer straight in the core. Once again luck was on Daniel's side as the missiles were powerless against the Phase Shift armor. The impact was a different story. The blue and copper brown machine was yet again sent staggering. The stumble causing other missiles to miss the target. Unfortunately, the backup proximity fuses detonated the warheads as they passed the Pulverizer. The fragments harmlessly bounced off the armored surface of the Pulverizer, leaving only surface damage in their wake. However, the brand new weapon system behind the Pulverizer's shoulder wasn't as armored as the rest of the machine. One of the missile launchers was holed in enough places for the safety system to remove it from the active weapons list. Another dose of shrapnel wrecked the rotary system of the turret, limiting its target arc to a narrow cone right in front of the Pulverizer. For the second time in a relatively short time, Daniel found his machine on the ground as the combined blast wave of the missiles sent the already unbalanced machine down.

Cursing wildly for his mistake, Daniel brought the Pulverizer back up, eager to get some revenge. He couldn't wait until he got his sights on one of the enemy Mobile Suits. They'd be lucky to die a quick death for this humiliation. However, before he could stand fully upright, his eyes saw something that caused his blood to freeze. The Ginns had used the missile barrage as a distraction so that they could close the distance and properly engage the Alliance machines. With three Ginns going after the Strike and two others charging the Dingo, it left Daniel with two remaining ZAFT Ginns on approach.

Still riding their Guul platforms, both of them opened fire with their machine guns, forcing Daniel to come up with an ungainly booster assisted jump to the side. He barely managed to land when he came under fire once again, both Ginns making another pass. Almost instinctively, Daniel repeated the jump, but this time the jump was more calculated and resulted in a softer landing. Eager to buy himself some time, Daniel quickly turned in the direction of the enemy and fired the bolt cannon as fast as he could. The plasma bolts missed their targets entirely, but it didn't matter. What did matter was that both Ginns broke off their strafing run, as they dodged the attack.

Realizing he had only a few seconds to spare before his opponents recovered, Daniel focused his attention on the closest Ginn and filled the air with more plasma bolts and cannon fire. This time he actually aimed his weapons and even landed a few hits. The enemy pilot was a crafty bastard though, seeing that there was no way to dodge all the attacks, he shifted the Guul, placing it in the line of fire and then jumped off the flight platform as it was shot to pieces. Still, the resulting explosion, combined with the fall, did send the Ginn to the ground where it crashed with a strong impact and was temporarily out of the fight, as the stunned pilot tried to recover.

With one enemy at least temporarily out of the fight, Daniel turned his attention on the other one, and almost got the Pulverizer's head chopped clean off as the Ginn attempted to take him by surprise with a high speed pass with its sword. It was only thanks to the previous experience in the desert where he had been forced to dodge similar passes from Waltfield's Bucues that Daniel managed to get out of the way by dropping on his knees. Unfortunately, due to his maneuver and a slight miscalculation on the Ginn pilot's part, the move resulted in the Pulverizer getting hit by the Guul's right wing.

Daniel truly had no idea what followed next, but one thing was certain, there were a lot of chaotic images of light and dark. He was certain that there were a lot more details in those images, but it all happened so fast he could only recognize either the blue skies or the dark mud, as the Pulverizer tumbled across the ground, rattling him like a pebble inside a can. There were a couple of strong blows as well, probably from an encounter with a tree or some other object. One such encounter was accompanied by a terrifying groan of metal and a chorus of alarms as the brand new weapon system was brutally torn off its assembly. Daniel didn't have time to properly register the loss of the weapon when the Pulverizer struck a particularly hard object, causing him to smash his head against the headrest. If not for the helmet, he would be suffering from a severe contusion or something even nastier. Fortunately he only had to deal with a few stars in front of his eyes and a brief swimming of his head. Daniel blinked the spots out of his eyes and decided that he would not find himself on the ground again, no matter what. All this falling and getting up was getting tedious. It had to stop. Now!

Getting up as quickly as possible, Daniel looked around, searching for his enemy and expecting to come under attack any second. However, no attack came. Daniel frowned, why wasn't he under attack? He had spent a lot of time tumbling on the ground, more than enough for his attacker to prepare the follow up blow that would most likely end the fight. Still confused, he searched his surroundings again, and finally discovered the reason why he wasn't bothered by anyone. The enemy Ginn, the Mobile Suit that had rammed him, was lying among the trees nearby. It was only then that Daniel realized that the ramming part hadn't been an attack but a genuine accident. The collision had resulted in the Ginn, along with the Guul, performing a similar slide-tumble to the Pulverizer, though the combination of greater mass and speed had inflicted a lot more damage. Whereas the Pulverizer had taken the blow to the Phase Shift armored section and was therefore practically unscathed, save for a few dents here and there, the Ginn was a total write-off. Both legs were gone, broken off in the collision, the left arm was gone as well, whereas the right one was a mangled mess of ruined machinery. The head and body of the machine were smashed and dented in every possible location, leaving few doubts about the fate of the pilot. That and the fact that the entire Ginn was on fire, bright flames rising from the cracks of the armor.

The Guul platform itself was half burrowed right next to the Pulverizer, where it had ended up after the collision. Judging from how twisted and bent the flight support platform was, Daniel realized that this was the object that had stopped his tumble. The fact that both the Ginn and the Guul had passed him and had already ground to a halt by the time the Pulverizer reached them, showed how strong powerful the impact had been. Clearly, the Mobile Suit's pilot had decided to go for overkill in his attempt to decapitate the Pulverizer before Daniel realized what was going on.

The radar screamed at him, and shifted Daniel's focus to the tree line across the small clearing he and the Ginn had made. It turned out to be another Ginn, the one Daniel had separated from the flight unit. Judging from its visual appearance, the crash hadn't been kind to the Mobile Suit. There were small dents all over the machine's armor. One of the large back mounted thrusters was bent in a weird angle and looked to be especially beaten up. However, the most important part Daniel noticed was the lack of a machine gun. The Ginn was armed only with a sword, which it held in the right hand.

Before Daniel's mind truly kicked in, he found himself on the receiving end of a charge, as the Ginn suddenly burst into movement and came right at him, waving the sword above its head like some ancient warrior. Daniel considered shooting the guy, but realized it was impossible, the guy was already too close for him to aim quickly enough. In an uncharacteristic display of aggression, Daniel suddenly found himself countercharging the Mobile Suit. A pair of blue laser blades hissed into existence and were immediately thrust forward as Daniel attempted to skewer his opponent. However the Ginn whirled to the side, out of the way and even managed to turn the whirl into a sideways sweep. The move caught Daniel completely off guard, and the Ginn clocked the Pulverizer in the side of the right shoulder. However, despite the sword's sharpness, it was unable to penetrate the armor and only sent the Pulverizer staggering to the side.

Despite being surprised by the resistance of the armor, the Ginn's pilot didn't allow it to prevent him from continuing his attack. Settling the sword into a two handed hold, he leveled at the level of his machine's waist and, holding it like a spear, pounced on the Pulverizer, mirroring the Pulverizer's previous move. However, just like the Ginn before, the Pulverizer managed to counter the attack. Planting one foot solidly on the ground, the Pulverizer spun around while outstretching both arms to the sides. With both laser blades ignited, the single whirl brought the blades in direct contact with the sword. A moment later, part of the sword was cut off, leaving only a short stump with a molten tip in its hands. The simple titanium alloy had absolutely no resistance to the extremely hot laser blade.

With his opponent caught by surprise, Daniel had no intention of giving him time to recollect his thoughts. Once the whirl was complete, and he was facing his enemy, he instantly went on the offensive. Just like before, he leaped towards the Ginn, but this time he aimed his jump past the Mobile Suit, not at it. As he passed the enemy machine, he made a horizontal sweep with the blade, aiming it at the Ginn's midsection. The enemy almost dodged. Almost. The Ginn started to move out of the way, but the blade was a bit too long to dodge completely. The blue blade disappeared from view as it melted its way through the entire Ginn, cutting it cleanly in half. There was absolutely no resistance at all. The materials used in construction were not meant to withstand such temperatures and melted like ice in a furnace.

The blade emerged from the back of the Ginn. For a moment the top half of the Ginn sat perfectly on top of the lower part. However, as soon as the momentum for the attempted dodge entered the equation, the separated half fell off. It was soon followed by the legs as well. With no power or directions coming from the pilot, both legs were just an inert mass of junk. Both sides fell to the ground and soon caught fire. The molten surfaces from where the blade had made its cut, were more than hot enough to start the fire.

Daniel gave his defeated enemy a quick glance, wondering about the fate of the pilot. However, given the location of the cut, the pilot was most likely dead. Good riddance, he had spent way too much time with these two, there was still a much larger battle raging around him, as evident by the not so distant explosions. With his duel completed, Daniel decided that it would be a good thing to find Kira or Jack, so that they could figure out what to do next. They had defeated the Mobile Suits sent against them. With no other ZAFT machines nearby, Daniel figured that that was either it, or the remaining Mobile Suits were somewhere else. Either way he had to move.

He started moving towards the location where he suspected he might find Kira, when his radar picked up another signal. This time it was a friendly. It was the Dingo. The ginger-yellow and white AC entered the clearing and made its way towards him. "Hey, Jack. I assume you managed to take care of the Ginns that went after you?"

The Dingo stopped not far from him and scanned the surrounding area. "Meh, wasn't that hard. Took me a little bit, but it was nothing serious." Daniel could clearly imagine Jack shrugging his shoulders. "What about you? From the looks of it, I should be the one asking you that question."

"Nothing serious, just took me time to warm up." Daniel replied in mild annoyance from Jack's tone. "Anyway, what do we do now? From the looks of it, there isn't a single ZAFT Mobile Suit nearby, so I think we're safe for now. The problem is that the Mobile Suits have most likely gone after everyone else. All the smoke over there can't be a good sign." The Pulverizer pointed its stubby arm towards the nearest islands where fighting looked to be particularly fierce. Then a sudden thought occurred to him. "But first I think we should find Kira. Last I saw him there were three or four Ginns going after him. He might be in trouble."

"Fuck Kira! I'm not some kind of babysitter to go look for him. Those Ginn's are his problem. Our objective is to aid those luckless bastards on the islands, not hold each others hands." Jack retorted and started heading towards the nearest coast.

He didn't get far since the Pulverizer stepped in his path. "We can't leave Kira alone. We have to help him."

"He's not part of the objective. Whatever happens to him, it doesn't matter." Jack tried to get around the Pulverizer, but Daniel kept getting in his way.

"Maybe." Daniel tried to come up with a way to convince Jack to help him. "But think of it like this. If we find Kira, he'll be able to help us against ZAFT. Three machines are better than two. Besides, I know that your mission is to make sure the Pulverizer remains intact. It would be a real shame if I were to go after Kira all alone and end up getting killed, eh?"

The Dingo froze and turned to regard the Pulverizer directly. The wolfish head and its visor glared directly into Daniel's eyes. Or so it seemed. "You know I could simply disable your legs and drag the Pulerizer back to the Archangel. Intact is a very relative term." Jack let the threat hang in the air. "However, you're right about the first part. With Kira there's a much greater chance of actually winning this, so you do have a point." With a deep sigh, Jack aimed the Dingo in the general direction of the Strike's supposed location and set off. The Dingo's boosters carrying it across the ground as if it was ice.

The AC was moving so quickly Daniel had to run at full speed in order to keep up with the Dingo. "How are you doing that?" Daniel watched the Dingo nimbly swerve around a couple of trees without breaking the slide. "I've seen the Romeo doing it as well, but I've never been able to do it with the Pulverizer."

"Newer tech, better boosters and a lot of practice." Jack replied absentmindedly as he looked for the widest possible path. "Don't worry, your relic is not capable of doing this. The booster output is not variable enough and the alignment is off as well." He watched with slight satisfaction as Daniel attempted to copy his movements regardless of his words. The only thing Daniel managed to achieve was to send the Pulverizer into a long forwards jump and barely avoid hitting a tree. "Doesn't count. You left the ground." Daniel was about to reply to Jack's remark when sounds of a battle in front of them caught their attention. At the same time they reached the end of the forest and found themselves on a sandy beach.

Locating the Strike wasn't that hard. The Alliance Gundam was very near and engaged in battle with two ZAFT Ginns. At least that's what it looked like at first. A closer look revealed that the Strike was actually pinned down by enemy fire. One Ginn was constantly firing its machine gun at the Strike, forcing it to take cover behind the shield, while the other one maneuvered for a better location from which to fire. After some time, the Ginns would switch roles, resulting in Kira having to quickly change his guard in order to avoid getting shot. The shots posed little danger to the PS armor, but with the battle only starting, Kira didn't want to waste energy by taking a shot or two. On the other hand, letting the enemy fire at him wasn't the answer either. Even if it wasn't getting shot, the PS armor constantly drew power from the battery. Sooner or later Kira would have to go on the offensive.

In fact Kira was considering to do just that and risk taking a shot or two in order to end the fight, when he saw the Dingo and the Pulverizer emerging from the forest. His relief grew even more when he saw the Dingo spare only a second before coming to his aid.

With no trees in the way, Jack was free to push the speed even higher than before. Leaving a deep trail in the sand, Jack blitzed towards the nearest Ginn. He saw the Ginn raise aim its weapon at him and frowned. He couldn't take the shot with his machine gun, not when the Ginn was standing between Kira and him. Usually Jack didn't give a rat's ass about stray shots, but this time it was different. Kira wasn't an unimportant bystander; he was needed to win this battle. Therefore Jack had to play it real careful.

With direct fire out of the question, Jack resorted to indirect fire. He let off a short burst just as the Ginn's pilot was about to fire at him. The four round burst resulted in four explosions near the Ginn's feet. The combined power of the explosion was strong enough to stagger the Mobile Suit, even as it let off a burst of its own. Luckily for Jack, the shots went wild and didn't come nowhere near him. Which was good, since the Ginn wouldn't get another chance. The Mobile Suit didn't even begin to recover when the Dingo was right next to it. The ZAFT pilot's demise was short and to the point. Using his knowledge about the Ginn's layout, Jack rammed the laser blade through the cockpit, killing the pilot instantly. He twisted the blade a little, just to be sure, and allowed the Ginn to collapse as he pulled the blade out.

Meanwhile Kira used the distraction to drill a few holes into the second Ginn with the beam rifle. The other pilot was so surprised by the two arrivals that he didn't even attempt to dodge. The green beams went straight through the cockpit, turning the pilot into ash before he knew what hit him. Like most of the other destroyed Mobile Suits, the Ginn fell down, thick smoke belching from the holes in the cockpit.

"Thanks." Kira opened a three way link between them, bringing Jack's and Daniel's faces on the comm screen. "Looks like that's all of the Mobile Suits they sent after us. What now?"

The Pulverizer hurried over to them. "I think that one's pretty obvious. We have to go and help our allies. From the looks of it, they're not doing so good." Kira and Jack took a look at the nearby islands themselves and were forced to agree with Daniel. Things were looking pretty grim. Though they had destroyed all the Ginns ZAFT forces had, there were other Mobile Suit types as well. Most notably, several bulky amphibious Mobile Suits. The sluggish machines were slowly emerging from the sea and wreaking havoc among the Eurasian forces. In addition, various landing craft, along with several escort ships were pushing their way into the island group and were already in the process of landing their troops on some of the islands. "I think we should try to take out those things. Otherwise our guys will have no chance." Daniel indicated the various underwater Mobile Suits.

"The fleet is too small." Kira's mind was clearly on other matters. "The enemy fleet isn't big enough to carry this many Mobile Suits in addition to ground forces. There aren't enough transports." He explained in a strangely analytical voice when Daniel gave him a puzzled look. "There are probably a couple of submarine carriers as well."

"So what?"

"The Archangel might be in trouble, that's what!" Kira replied in an irritated voice. Jack's preemptive strike, coupled with that fight with the Ginns had left him in a bad mood.

"I don't know about that. I'm sure Murrue and other can take care of a couple of subs." Daniel said slowly. "Besides, there are the Eurasian ships to consider as well. They are not alone, I'm sure they'll be fine."

Kira eyed him angrily. "Are you willing to bet on that? The entire plan relies on the Archangel taking out most of the enemy fleet, if something happens to it, we're done for."

Before Daniel could come up with a reply, Jack sent a screech of static across the channel, forcing them to turn their attention to him. "Oi, fags! You do realize that there's a battle going on, right? My radio's afire with incoming calls for assistance. So if you two are dickin' around, perhaps we could GET A FUCKING MOVE ON!" Jack shouted, forcing both of them to wince, Jack had turned the volume up to maximum. Without saying another word, the Dingo took off and, with a howl of its boosters, headed towards where the fighting seemed to be the fiercest.

Daniel held up his hand to one side of his helmet, oblivious to the futility of the act, as he watched the Dingo leave. "You're the faggot." He mumbled barely loud enough for him to hear, much less anyone else. With a corner of his eye he saw the Strike take off as well. The Gundam made a beeline towards the Archangel. Apparently Kira could not stop worrying about the ship and had decided to check things out, leaving the mission to Daniel and Jack. With a deep sigh, Daniel ignited the Pulverizer's boosters and took off as well. He decided to go to the island where most of the Sangreal's remains were located. If the enemy was eager to take them, then it would be only logical that they would go after the biggest pieces first.

xxxxx

Though the Alliance pilots' crushing victory over the Ginn attack force had dealt a severe blow to the ZAFT-Oceania Union forces, the fate of the battle was still far from being decided. In fact, most of the forces on both sides didn't even notice how that particular engagement had worked out, since there was a lot more of other things to worry about, than one, single engagement, which was only one of many.

The ZAFT-Oceania Union fleet had split up in three groups. The largest one, consisting of most of its warships, aided by almost every submarine carrier and aerial Dinn Mobile Suits, was engaged in fierce battle with the Eurasian destroyer group, led by the Archangel class assault carrier. Out of all battles being fought this was perhaps the most crucial one, since the outcome would leave the victor free to provide notable support to other engagements.

The second group, guarded by a single submarine carrier, stayed back and out of the fighting. The transport ships had already done their part by sending their Mobile Suits and several landing craft into the battle. Being lightly armed, mostly with defensive type weapons, the large vessels were slowly retreating to a safe distance, since the Eurasian aircraft posed a serious threat to them. Once they had reached a safe distance, the transports would wait for the battle to end, before moving in and starting the next phase of the operation – the reclamation of the crashed AC's remains.

Lastly, the third group was in charge of securing the said AC's remains. Escorted by a few frigates and several underwater Mobile Suits, the landing craft of the third group made their way towards the islands as quickly as possible. It was their task to deploy the ground forces, which would crush the opposition and capture the objective. This, however, was easier said than done.

As soon as the landing craft started approaching the islands, they came under intense fire from the entrenched defenders. Considering that the Eurasian force was originally sent to reinforce JOSH-A, the supreme headquarters of Earth Alliance, and had plenty of time to prepare their defenses, it meant that the attacking force was on the receiving end of highly destructive firepower. Heavy gun emplacements, anti-vehicle missiles and even a few artillery pieces, all rained destruction on the enemy in a constant stream. This already impressive firepower was further bolstered by the armaments of the frigates, scattered among the islands, as well as missile and air strikes from the cruisers and the aircraft carrier.

Several landing craft were destroyed when the defensive firepower smashed into the formation. Most of the vessels that were hit went up in a mixed explosion of water and fire, scattering their remains across the nearby ocean and other landing craft. Those that weren't destroyed were most often forced to slow down to a crawl due to the damage. As a result, none of them lasted for much longer as they were perfect targets for repeated attacks. The landing force replied with weapons of their own. Unfortunately, the heavy machine guns and chainguns didn't have much of an effect since the assault force had to fire on the move whilst being forced to maneuver around explosions and already destroyed remains of their group, and that was before the distance and the waves were taken into account. Therefore, it was no wonder that Eurasians had little to fear from retaliation. At least for a while.

Things changed when the assault force split into several smaller groups, each heading towards a different destination, and a trio of frigates came into direct view of the land based defenders. In addition, most of the air support was pulled off to support the Archangel's group when it came under attack from the Dinn Mobile Suits. Lastly, as if that weren't enough, Eurasian frigates soon picked up several underwater Mobile Suits heading towards them and were forced to focus their attention on dealing with them, which resulted in less fire being poured at the assault force.

The sudden shift in the flow of battle soon resulted in landing craft throwing themselves upon the beaches of the islands. The landing boats' forward sections soon unfolded, allowing forces inside to charge out and begin the ground war. The very same thing happened at the southeastern part of the island that housed the main recovery camp and land based headquarters of the Alliance forces in the region. Despite the defenders' best efforts, Oceania Union troops started pouring out of the vessels and soon the defenders found themselves facing not just infantry but various types of light armor as well.

Though Oceanian marines managed to establish some sort of a beachhead, getting off the beach was proving to be very difficult as the entrenched Eurasian forces poured machine gun and mortar fire at them. Few IFVs and APCs tried to make a push for the enemy lines, but the abundance of RPGs made it almost impossible, underlined by two IFVs bursting into flames after being hit by multiple anti-armor rockets. Their wrecked remains were soon joined by others as Oceania Union forces were pinned down.

The stalemate lasted only for a moment. One of the Oceania Union frigates soon moved closer to the island and started providing direct fire support. A few well-placed shots from its main gun took out several pillboxes that formed the core of defenses facing the assaulting forces. A few seconds later, the defensive line was further wrecked by a devastating missile salvo. Trees, along with many defenders, were blasted apart by the explosions, tearing a wide gap in the defensive line. Several Eurasian soldiers were buried alive in their trenches when the missile strike threw up large amounts of sand. Others were either cut down by shrapnel or perforated by splinters, thick as nails, from the nearby trees.

A very brief moment of silence descended on the location of the strike as both Eurasians and their enemies recovered from the sudden attack. Needless to say, Eurasians took longer to recover, due to being on the receiving end of the bombardment. Bombardment which was still going on, as the frigate continued to fire its cannon at every target the land forces pointed out. The morale of the assaulting marines was further bolstered by the arrival of several other landing craft, bringing more reinforcements, and in one case, a Zuoot Mobile Suit. With fresh forces already disembarking and few more on the way, the Oceania Union troops started moving towards the breach in the defensive line. They had to get as far as possible before the enemy managed to recover. Already some of the defenders had recovered enough to fire back; fortunately they were soon cut down as the advancing forces made their way off the beach and into the jungle.

However, just as things had changed for the worse for Eurasian troops, did things change for the worse for Oceanians a few moments later. A tremendous roar from the jungle halted the entire advance in their tracks. The roaring grew louder with every second, informing the attackers that whatever was making that noise was heading in their direction. Soon after, several Oceania soldiers shared nervous glances when they picked up the rumbling, clanking sounds of something metallic making its way through the jungle. Something big and fast.

With the roar of a hydrogen powered turbine, a massive shape exploded from the jungle and onto the beach, slightly over a hundred meters from the Oceanian left flank. Many soldiers blinked in surprise when they realized that they were staring at a tank. Not just a simple tank, but a Warchief class heavy tank, something no one expected to see on a small island. The island was too small and covered in jungle for a tank to be used at its maximum efficiency. The beach was the only place where a tank could maneuver with at least some degree of success. That was one of the reasons why Oceania Union forces had brought very few armored vehicles with them. Jungle covered islands were not suited for tank warfare. Unfortunately for them, the crew of the Warchief had no intention of fighting in the jungle. They intended to finish everything on the beach.

Martin pressed the brakes so hard the Warchief skidded a few meters in the loose sand. "Easy darlin' you'll have plenty of time to play around. Poor thing hasn't been getting any exercise for a long time." He smiled affectionately, as he listened to the roar of the tank's engine. At full power, like it was now, the engine felt and sounded like a chained comet, the contained energy and raw power threatening to tear the tank apart if not unleashed in the most violent and destructive manner possible. He glanced at one of the displays, where he could see a group of enemy soldiers trying to find cover. "I've always wondered what the other guy was thinking at times like these."

"Screw that, I can't wait to see what they think after this." Felix growled as he oriented the turret on the frigate. With a crackling sound like a giant branch being broken in half, the twin 155mm linear cannons sent a pair of HE slugs towards the frigate. The hit couldn't have landed in a better location. A large hole was blown right in the rear-middle part of the frigate's hull, just below the waterline, exactly where the power generators were located. The resulting explosion took the ship completely out of commission. With no power, the ship couldn't move, couldn't fire, couldn't do anything else, but to sink as water entered the ship through the hole.

Only a second or two had passed since the first pair of shots had been fired, but the Warchief was already moving. The roar thundered again as Martin turned the tank towards enemy forces and poured all the power into the engine. The tank lurched and then blitzed across the beach, leaving a wide trench in its wake. The speed with which the Warchief was crossing the distance was unbelievable and caught many soldiers by surprise. No one expected something that big and heavy to move that fast.

Seeing no reason to give the enemy time to recover from their surprise, Felix pressed down the triggers again. The first shot took out an IFV, the comparatively lightly armored vehicle's front exploded with violent force, some sections even peeled back, like a surreal flower, while deadly shrapnel from the explosion cut down several nearby soldiers. The second crumpled the side of an APC like a beer can and actually sent the lightly armored vehicle flying for a few meters before it touched down on the ground.

While the guns recharged, Felix used the opportunity to hose down the largest infantry groups with the dual .50 cal. coaxial machine guns. Rounds, designed to penetrate lightly armored vehicles were too effective against any kind of body armor the soldiers wore. Limbs were shot off, sometimes even pulverized in a spray of bloody mist as heavy caliber bullets tore into anyone unfortunate enough to be caught without cover. The luckiest ones died instantly, though messily. It took only a few seconds, but the beach was soon littered with several dead and dying as half of the Oceanian marines was cut down. Most of the wounded were soon killed by Eurasian mortars or infantry that used the chance to regroup.

Maria observed the carnage with a completely emotionless face. All emotions had been detached some time ago, so that they wouldn't interfere with her thoughts. "Zuoot, one o' clock, seventy eight meters. Take it." She painted the target for Felix, by the time Felix sent a pair of slugs at the targets, her mind was already on different matters. "Martin, take us through that enemy position, full speed. Robert, switch the turret into a point defense mode, I think I saw a couple of RPGs over there. Felix, enemy landing craft, two, approaching the island, three and four o' clock, one, one-fifty meters and closing. Take them." She allowed her a quick glance at the destroyed Zuoot lying on the ground, its upper body a shattered ruin. _A bastard shall never defeat a pureblood. _She managed a thin smile, before shifting her attention back to the battle, as her orders were carried out.

Two more slugs crackled from the Warchief's cannons, each taking out a landing craft and further complicating things for the attackers. At the same time, the tank was a little less than twenty meters from the other half of Oceanian marines and showed absolutely no intention of slowing down. Several rocket propelled grenades were fired at the heavily armored combat vehicle, but most of them were hastily aimed and landed nowhere near the target. The very few that were properly aimed were shot down by the smaller turret on top of the Warchief. Set on defensive mode, the computer controlled system acted like a CIWS emplacement and shredded any incoming warheads with short, precise bursts from its dual .50 machineguns. When the last missile was taken out, the system used the spare time to backtrack the last fired rocket and sent a retaliatory burst in that direction, blowing large holes in the body of a RPG trooper.

What followed next was a brutal example of one of tank warfare's dirty little secrets. When it came to killing infantry, tanks used their threads as much as their guns. When caught off guard, in the open, there was very little, other than running and praying, an infantryman could do in order to avoid being crushed underneath dozens of tons of machinery. With an inhuman roar of its engine, the Warchief plowed right into the enemy formation. Several soldiers barely had any time to scream before they were crushed underneath the threads. Some did survive and were left screaming in the sand while holding crushed and mangled limbs. However, that was only part of the blow the Warchief dealt to its enemies. 7.62mm bullets hosed the area directly in front of the tank, while a total of four fifty caliber machineguns took care of the sides. The intense engine exhaust, reaching temperatures up to 900 degrees Celsius, caused severe burns to anyone behind the tank. Lastly, as if the damage already dealt wasn't enough, Maria triggered all four of the hull mounted grenade launchers, each spitting out a single 40mm Frag grenade which exploded shortly after leaving the launcher, showering everything in 10 meter radius with deadly shrapnel.

Panicked shots, even rounds from underbarrel grenade launchers either bounced off or exploded harmlessly against the armor, as some marines tried to do something, anything at all to repel the rampaging metal behemoth in their midst. Nothing worked, whenever someone would attempt to set up an RPG shot, the small turret on top of the main turret would swing over and disrupt the attempt in a deadly fashion. By the time the Warchief was through the enemy formation, there was not much left of it. The ground behind the Warchief was literary red with blood, the threads and wheels of the tank itself, were also smeared red with a mixture of blood and wet sand. However, the Warchief still wasn't done, there were still survivors after all.

Once again the tank went after its targets. With all seven barrels blazing, the Warchief cut down everyone that was still moving. Whether the target was wounded or not, it didn't matter, everyone was hosed down. The constant staccato of the machine guns was overshadowed by the crackling of the main guns whenever Felix saw a particularly large group of targets. They didn't enjoy it, no one did. However, for them it was a fact of life. In order for someone to win, someone had to lose. Sometimes routing the enemy was enough, this time, considering that the enemy had nowhere to run, only complete destruction would suffice. Eurasians were already too hard pressed to hold back the assaults on their positions, for Maria to risk leaving a few potential enemies alive. Only when she was certain that this sector posed no danger to the defenders, would she ease up and move on to wherever she was needed next.

"Cease fire!" Maria commanded once she was certain that there were only dead bodies lying on the beach. Her orders were followed immediately and the silence that followed was almost deafening. Sure, the engine was still running, but that was something she had gotten used to a long while ago, especially when the engine was idling like it was doing right now. "Anyone see someone who is still alive?"

The crew used whatever they could to get a look for themselves, but no one saw any kind of movement. "I think they're all dead. I'd be surprised if someone was still moving after what we threw at them." Felix shook his head as he surveyed the destruction. Perhaps they had gone a bit overboard. Then again, such was life. Nothing he would lose any sleep over.

"Good. Status?"

"No damage as far as I can see. Fuel cells at 83 percent capacity, no problems there. I'm running low on my MG, only 230 rounds left."

"Both cannons up and ready. Loaded with AP and HE. Around fifty still remaining. Ammo is good for both coaxes. Plenty of ammo left. No problems."

"Plenty of ammo for the defensive turret, all missiles ready for launch. Took a minor hit to the rotating mechanism, probably from a 40mm, nothing too serious, but efficiency has dropped slightly. So far no other problems."

"I see. Get on the horn with the HQ, tell them we cleared Sector Five and are ready to move on." Maria replied and, after a quick check of displays, popped open her hatch and stood up to get a good look at the surrounding area. No matter how advanced the sensors and cameras were nothing beat a pair of eyeballs. Opening the hatch to get a better view was extremely dangerous, but Maria considered the situation safe enough to risk it. After all if some of the enemies were indeed alive they were most likely either bleeding to death or playing dead.

A rush of warm, salty air assaulted her the moment she stood up. The air was also filled with the thick stench of smoke, ocean and a barely noticeable hint of raw meat. She shivered involuntary when that last detail registered and her eyes fell on the result of the Warchief's stampede. Unbelievably someone was still alive, desperate screams coming from somewhere to her right. Maria glanced in the direction of the screams, but could not find whoever was causing them; several bodies were in the way. In addition to the screaming, which she successfully managed to tune out, there were sounds of battle coming from all over the place. Apparently, their island was assaulted in more than one location.

After picking up a pair of binoculars and looking to her left, Maria quietly took in the sight of the sinking ships. The landing crafts were a total write-off, their blasted remains floating silently in the water. The frigate Felix had sniped earlier was almost entirely underwater. Only the nose of the ship remained above. The ocean around the sinking frigate was full of several lifeboats as well as a couple of sailors as well. She watched the sailors on one of the lifeboat help a couple of their comrades aboard the small craft. A sudden dark though crossed her mind as she considered ordering Felix to hose down the survivors with a couple of bursts, but she eventually dismissed it. Yes, they were at war, but they weren't monsters. At least when they had a choice.

With the decision to spare the survivors made, Maria scrutinized the rest of the ocean as far as she could see. The sight brought mixed emotions to her. From the looks of it, Oceanians had lost all three frigates they had sent to aid their landing forces, one of them had been destroyed by Felix, the other two had been taken out in a brief naval engagement with their Eurasian counterparts. Unfortunately none of the Eurasian frigates were in sight as well. The lack of nearby ships fully confirmed her suspicions; there were ZAFT underwater carriers or Mobile Suits in the area. Most likely both. She made a mental note to keep watching the shores for any possible threats. Nothing would ruin their day like a nasty surprise from the ocean.

Her suspicions about amphibious Mobile Suits were confirmed when she looked at a nearby island where another battle was taking place as Oceanians continued to assault several islands at once. Unfortunately for Eurasians on the other island, they didn't have the assistance of a Warchief tank. That and the arrival of a ZNO class Mobile Suit meant that Eurasians were getting hammered, or at least that's what she initially thought. An increase of the magnification showed her that the situation was quite different. Eurasians were nowhere in sight, whereas Oceanians looked to be running around in a state of panic, completely disorganized.

Maria frowned at the strange sight. "What the hell is going on over there?" She asked in puzzlement. Maria saw the Zno turn and unleash a missile salvo at a target she couldn't see. Just as she was about to try and locate what was causing all that panic, she got her answer. Sliding across the ground, the Dingo entered her field of vision. The AC blitzed towards the Mobile Suit while dodging the missiles fired at it. A flash of yellow indicated the activation of the laser blade, which the AC then buried into the ZAFT machine as it passed by. At the same time the Dingo released four missiles from its back mounted missile launcher. The missiles shot up in the skies and then came right back down on top of the Oceanian infantry. By the time the explosions actually went off, the Dingo was already gone.

Whistling in admiration Maria lowered the binoculars and decided to get back inside the tank. A sudden sound from above forced her to glance up. A large formation of Eurasian aircraft were passing overhead as they made their way towards the naval engagement, where the Archangel and other Eurasian ships were under heavy attack from several Dinns. To Maria it meant less air support for those who were fighting somewhere else. Then again, she never had much trust in the flyboys anyway, so the lack of friendly aircraft was only a minor issue. As long as she didn't have to deal with enemy aircraft Maria couldn't care less about what happened in the skies. After all, every proper tanker knew that the aerial warfare was nothing more than a show. The real fighting took place on the ground.

Closing the hatch behind her, Maria returned to her seat. "Okay guys, so far everything looks to be alright and going in our favor." She put down the binoculars spared a quick glance at the status screens in order to double check if everything was fine. "Robert. I heard some fighting taking place not far from here, most likely the enemy has made another landing. Got anything on that?"

"Yeah. Eurasians are reporting an enemy landing taking place in their sector. I'm uploading the coordinates. So far it looks like at least a platoon sized enemy force. Eurasians are holding them back, but there are enemy reinforcements on approach and they suspect that one of the transports might be carrying a Mobile Suit." Robert replied and sent her the coordinates. The location wasn't far. Only three hundred or so meters, just around the curve of the island. "They're asking us to provide support if it turns out that there is indeed a Mobile Suit on approach. If not then were free to act as we see fit."

"Which basically means they want us to pull their asses out of the fire, but don't want to say it out loud." Maria said with a small grin. "Very well, let's go and see what's going on over there. Martin, take the beach path this time, if I recall correctly, there were no decent nearby paths through the jungle towards the target location. The sooner we arrive, the greater the chance we'll be able to snipe that Mobile Suit before it lands."

Once again the tank lurched underneath her and started heading towards the destination. However, unlike before, Maria ordered the driver to drop the speed, favoring a more careful approach over a high speed blitz. The reason for the caution was simple. They had been able to observe the landing through the trees before charging in. Therefore Felix had lots of time to pick out the targets. This time there was no line of sight and precautions had to be taken, since they had absolutely no idea about the situation. As a result the Warchief crossed the beach with the speed of a jogger, its wide tracks sinking slightly deeper than usual due to the intense ground pressure being applied to the same spot for a longer period of time. Still, despite the relatively loose ground, the tank continued to move forwards at a steady pace.

Unfortunately, as it soon turned out, caution was not the best approach to the situation. The battlefield came into their view in the exact same moment a Zuoot Mobile Suit rolled off its transport and transfigured into a Mobile Suit mode. Even more, the sound of the Warchief's engine had served as a warning to everyone that a heavily armored visitor was on the way. As a result, the first thing that Maria and her crew saw as they cleared the visual cover with a sudden burst of speed, was a salvo of anti-armor missiles and a Mobile Suit heading their way. Maria cursed herself for not taking the high speed approach and giving their enemies time to prepare. Her curse soon turned into a gasp when the Zuoot raised both arms and opened fire with the forearm and handheld weapons. "Aw, FUCK!" She managed before the entire world was shattered into chaotic fragments of random thoughts, unclear images and, most importantly, lots of noise.

She distinctively remembered the Warchief firing both cannons at the Zuoot, despite being rattled by the Zuoot's cannon fire. She also remembered someone, probably Robert, screaming something incoherent. All of that ceased to matter when she felt the Warchief take a particularly nasty hit and had her head smashed by unseen force against one of the displays hard enough to make her black out. When she came to, Maria had no idea how much time had passed. It could have been seconds, could have been hours. She tried to find out what had happened, but couldn't get her eyes to focus properly. Everything was blurred and seemed to be swimming so hard she felt sick. A sudden wave of nausea assaulted her and she found herself vomiting in her own lap a second later. The constant vibrations that shook the Warchief's hull made her feel even worse.

Using a brief moment when her throat was clear, Maria took a large gulp of air in an attempt to make the swimming sensation stop by providing her body with oxygen. She almost puked again when the thick smell of smoke, cordite, cooked flesh and blood assaulted her nostrils. Not only that, but she also realized that she couldn't hear a damned thing. The only thing she could hear was a constant ringing in her ears which only aggravated her headache. Weakly reaching out with one hand to hold on to something, she lowered her head, closed her eyes and started taking fast, deep breaths, whilst trying to block out as many thoughts as possible. It wasn't easy. With every passing moment, more and more thoughts entered her mind as consciousness strengthened its hold on her. Maria's eyes flew open when she realized that they were still in danger. The Mobile Suit was probably still out there, along with several enemy soldiers, eager to finish off her tank once and for all. She had to do something. Forcing herself to concentrate through sheer effort of will, Maria perked up and tried to take stock of the situation.

The Warchief's interior was filled with smoke. Thick, pungent smoke that burned the throat every time she took a breath. Though it was hard to see, she managed to catch a glimpse of movement below her. At least Felix was still alive. Perhaps wounded, but alive. A feeling of rotation, followed by a pair of familiar vibrations throughout the hull, told her that Felix was still capable of productive action since he was the only one who could fire the tank's guns. Maria tried to use the intercom in order to check up on her other crewmembers, but the ringing in her ears prevented her from hearing any reply. She could barely hear herself screaming much less a reply through the intercom. Shelving the thought for a moment, Maria checked the status screens in order to assess the damage. What she saw wasn't pretty. The Warchief had received a nasty hit to the top of the main hull. An anti-tank missile had landed right on top of the driver's hatch. _That explains the stench._ A tiny, detached voice commented in her mind. Gritting her teeth at the loss of another comrade, Maria continued on. Another missile had struck the left, forward track section mangling the threads and blowing them clean off. She barely managed to finish reading that last report when all the displays, communications systems, sensors, targeting systems, engine, lights and everything else went out, leaving them in pitch darkness and silence.

Maria only needed a few seconds to realize what was going on and what had to be done. "Power's out! Bail! Bail! Bail! Everyone, out of the tank!" Just because she couldn't hear herself didn't mean she was unable to give orders. With that order given, Maria reached towards the weapons rack and grabbed the carbine as well as the few magazines stored there. She quickly checked the safety, removed it, and then popped open the hatch and stood up, her eyes taking in each new detail with tremendous speed.

Just as she expected, they were on the beach, after receiving the initial hit, the Warchief hadn't moved a bit. Most of the hull was covered with small dents as well as pieces of equipment shattered by enemy fire. Most of the pieces seemed to belong to the small, computer controlled turret which explained why the missiles had been able to reach them. Her observations were cut short by several bullets striking the hull nearby and it didn't take long for her to notice at least a dozen of enemy soldiers moving towards the disabled tank. A few more were using parts of the destroyed Zuoot for cover and were laying down suppressive fire in order to keep their heads down. It was working. Maria quickly ducked back inside the tank, her mind struggling for a way out of the situation. Surrender was out of the option. The bloody stains on her tank were enough of an indication of what they had done to their previous enemies. The only thing she could expect from the Oceanian troops was a bullet to the head.

Maria soon realized that the ringing in her ears was gone and she could hear again. A small comfort in the face of death, but she wasn't picky. At least she could hear the bullets ricocheting off the armor of the tank's hull as enemy continued to fire at her hatch to keep her down. Her ears suddenly picked up the sound of two more weapons opening up somewhere close by. Apparently Felix and Robert had managed to get out of the tank and were fighting back. Good for them, at least they could do something about the whole situation. Fortunately for her, the emergence of two more targets decreased the amount of gunfire being aimed at her, which soon resulted in a brief chance for her.

Sensing a pause in the firing, Maria popped up from her hatch and took a quick aim at the enemy. As expected, the machine gunner who had been firing at her was busy reloading. Though there were other soldiers who could pick up the slack for their comrade, they had to take a moment to aim their weapons at her, whereas Maria had already stood up with her weapon aimed and ready. It took only a fraction of a second for her to sight in on a target and let loose a three round burst. One of the soldiers staggered in mid-run and fell down as the armor piercing bullets went through the body armor like it wasn't there.

With one enemy down, Maria took cover in the tank again, just in time to avoid being shot in return. _Now what?_ She thought grimly. She was no fool, after the loss of their comrade the enemy would make sure to have at least one gun constantly aimed at her location in order to prevent her from getting lucky again. They would keep it that way until someone was close enough to toss in a grenade and end her life with a bang. Still, that didn't mean she had to sit there and wait for her death to come. While trying to figure out how to get out of the mess, Maria bought herself some time by pointing the carbine out of the hatch and, without raising out of cover, blindly fired a long burst in the general direction of the enemy, swinging the gun a little in order to cover a bigger arc. She didn't expect to hit anything, but she hoped to prevent the enemy from rushing her for at least some time. The burst ended with a click as the magazine ran dry.

While her hands reloaded the weapon, Maria looked around for a way out. Climbing down to Felix's seat in order to escape through the gunner's hatch was impossible. There wasn't enough room for her to squeeze through all the equipment in the way. The designers had provided everyone with their own hatch without the possibility of using someone else's. A serious design flaw, one Maria had a suspicion she wouldn't live long enough to point out. Sure, statistics would eventually convey the message for her, but the thought of becoming a statistic, especially the KIA kind of statistic didn't appeal to her.

Her musings came to an end when someone dropped the solution to her problem into her lap. An armed grenade sailed right through the hatch and landed between her thighs. Revelation struck like lightning and before her mind fully comprehended the insane idea, she was already moving. Maria grabbed the armed grenade and rose to her feet. Out of a corner of her eye she saw two enemy soldiers hiding behind trees a little over than seven meters away. They were under fire from either Felix or Robert and were unable to shoot her. Other soldiers were caught off guard by her near suicidal move, having expected her to simply toss the grenade back out, as a result they were a little slow on pulling the triggers. When they did, it was too late.

Maria hurled the armed grenade in the general direction of the enemy. She also fired the gun on full auto again while climbing out of the tank as quickly as she could. Holding the carbine with only one hand had the unpleasant consequence of the weapon spraying bullets all over the place. Then again, that was the idea. Maria needed to keep the enemy down long enough for her to get behind the Warchief therefore every little thing was fine. Unfortunately, while off to a great start, her little gamble soon fell apart. The grenade went off with a solid blow, scattering deadly fragments in a ten meter radius. Some fragments flew even further than that, but they lacked the killing power of those closer to the epicenter of detonation. As a result, some of them struck Maria just as she made the first step away from the hatch.

Sharp pain shot through her legs as tiny fragments ripped through the uniform and embedded themselves into Maria's thighs and calves. Maria cried in pain fell down as she lost her balance due to the sudden pain and the realization that she'd been hit. She landed heavily on the hard surface of the turret, but her momentum kept her moving forward and eventually she fell over the side. Her left shoulder felt like it was coming apart when it collided with the armored skirt during her fall. Tears blurred Maria's vision as white hot pain followed a frightening crack of the bone. A moment later, all air from her was knocked out as she landed on the ground. Stunned both from the fall and pain, Maria was barely aware of what was going on around her. Her mind still swimming and disoriented, she was completely helpless.

A pair of strong hands grabbed her and pulled her across the ground behind the cover of the tank. Maria heard someone call her name, but she couldn't make out who it was. A second later her savior grabbed her injured shoulder and applied pressure. Strong pressure. Maria screamed in pain as whoever was doing it continued to squeeze her shoulder like an iron vice. Fortunately, the torture didn't last long and Maria soon realized why her savior had done it. The pain and the following breath she took did wonders for focusing her mind. She looked up and saw Felix leaning over her. "Felix? That you?" She asked, her tongue fumbling a bit. "Damn it hurts!" The pain from her legs registering in her mind.

"I know. Frag. You caught a bit when that grenade went off." Felix grabbed her by the uniform and rested her back against the Warchief's side. He then made a quick check on her legs. "Doesn't look that bad. There's not that much of it and the bleeding ain't that bad. Wounds seem to be very shallow."

"Doesn't make it any easier." Maria gritted and took a few breaths. "Still hurts like a bitch."

"I could give you a kiss, perhaps that will make the pain go away." Felix managed a joke, even as he rose up and snapped off a few shots from his SMG.

"Funny guy … how does it look?"

"I'd say we're fucked. There's a lot of them on the other side and we're running low on ammo. There's nowhere to run. Eurasians are having a hard time getting to us. And the enemy doesn't look like they'll allow us to surrender. Yeah … we're definitely fucked."

Maria was about to see if she could stand up and help her comrades out with her sidearm when she noticed something that sent a chill through her spine. "No, Felix. Now, we're fucked!" She pointed at the ocean where a large shape was slowly surfacing from the water like an ancient beast of legend. A Zno Mobile Suit slowly made its way towards the shore where the three Alliance soldiers were hiding behind the Warchief. They were now trapped between enemy soldiers and a ZAFT Mobile Suit and neither one of them seemed to be in a merciful mood. The Mobile Suit clenched its claw, indicating that the pilot wasn't going to use the more sophisticated weapons to finish them off. Funny, but neither Maria, nor Felix, nor Robert were surprised about that. They were a defenseless target, completely helpless against a Mobile Suit. They would have done exactly the same thing in this kind of a situation.

A bolt of azure light struck the Zno right in the head. The shot destroyed everything that was above the water, which included everything from the waist up. Thick steam marked the demise of the Zno as molten bits of metal fell into the water. The legs and waist of the Zno continued to stand for a while, but eventually fell over as water rushed in to replace what was turned into steam.

The howl of boosters heralded the arrival of the Pulverizer, as it dropped out of the skies and landed close to the Warchief. Inside the cockpit Daniel sighed in relief when he saw that some of the crew was still alive. He had seen the Warchief take a hit and go silent, but not before taking down a Zuoot Mobile Suit. For a moment he had feared that the crew of the Warchief was dead, but when he picked up the signs of a gunfire coming from the Warchief, as well as spotting a portion of enemy infantry heading towards it, Daniel had realized that they were still alive. As a result he had gunned the boosters as best he could in order to save them. As it had turned out, he had arrived just in time to take out the Zno before it could kill Maria and her soldiers.

"Hey, are you okay?" Daniel asked through the external speakers while taking a single step towards the enemy soldiers. They got the message and quickly moved away from the Warchief.

Felix waved both hands at the Pulverizer a wide grin plastered in his face. "Fukin' A boy. When you're old enough to drink call me and I'll buy you a fucking crate of beer. Talk about perfect timing."

"I don't mind having that beer right now. Always wanted to try it." Daniel smiled. "Anyway, I got here as fast as…" He fell silent when his audio sensors picked up a strange sound. "What the hell is that sound?" The Pulverizer voiced his question since he still had the speakers on.

"I don't hear…" Felix started to say, but then he heard it too. A steady rumble, sounding just like thunder, seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. It was faint at first, but with every passing moment it became louder. Louder and more menacing as several veterans among the Alliance forces soon recognized the sound. "Daniel, if you have any trick up your sleeve, be so kind and get ready to use them. Shitstorm's a comin'." He said in a steady voice and raised his eyes towards the skies. Many others across the islands also raised their sights towards the skies as the sound of ZAFT orbital drop pods grew louder and louder.

* * *

**A/N** - This was originally meant to be a single chapter, but after I saw how long it was, I decided to cut it in half. I don't know if the second part will be just as long, but one thing is certain there will certainly be a lot of action in it.


	30. Battle for the Holy Grail, part II

First off, I'd like you to know that I've broken my previous record of chapter length. This one is the longest one I have ever written, so get comfortable, because it will take a while. And to think I wanted to write these two parts as a single chapter...

Anyway, please welcome another new character. Akira Nishikama. He was submitted to me by ZAFT Prime.

And now, on with the show!

* * *

_Relax… calm breaths… slow, deep breaths… eyes closed … You feel a peaceful garden in front of you… you hear the wind rustling the green leaves of trees and bushes… light wind, a pleasant, calm summer morning breeze The dawning sun is casting warmth and light on everything you see … The grass around you is covered with dew, each drop shining like a diamond in the sun … The purl of a brooklet, flowing through the garden, echoes in your ears … You feel all of this around you, all combined in perfect harmony … All worries are banished from your mind … You are one with the nature … Perfect balance and peace._

"Three minutes until deployment altitude. All units check your systems and report status green." The computerized voice broke into the calmness that reigned inside the mind. A pair of golden-yellow eyes opened slowly and cast a calm glance on the surroundings, pausing briefly on every status screen. Everything was in order, just as it was supposed to be, and was expected to be. Status screens vomiting forth a constant stream of various data, the constant rumbling and shaking of what seemed to be the entire world, the dim light that made it almost impossible to see, and the darkness that peered inside through the main cameras. Everything was exactly the same, as always.

A gloved hand reached out to one of the displays and tapped a few keys, by the time the required data were displayed; it didn't matter anymore, since the report was exactly as expected. "This is Akira Nishikama. All is green across the board." A young voice calmly said into the radio. "Everything's ready for go." Akira tried to slip back into his meditation, his usual method of dealing with pre-combat stress, but the idea was soon dismissed. There wasn't that much time left and his mind was focused on the task with the usual calmness. No sense of trying to improve what was already in top form.

Another voice cut through the air, but this time it didn't belong to a computer. This time it was the no nonsense, deadly serious voice of Commander Carlos Elsman. Leader of the Elsman Team. "Good to see that everyone's ready. Then again, considering that we will deploy regardless of whether you're ready or not, it doesn't really matter." His dark purple gaze looked deep into the eyes of each of his team's member. "Anyway, got some last minute info on the situation on the ground. Unfortunately, it looks like things aren't looking good for us. Intel reports of the Alliance ship the Archangel being in the area. That's right, the same ship that has kicked the ass of at least three ZAFT Commanders and their teams. So far, it looks like history is repeating itself and our Mobile Suit forces are taking heavy casualties from the Archangel's Mobile Suits. As if that wasn't enough, our Oceanian allies aren't making much progress of capturing the main objective. Our fleet seems to be holding out for now, but with the Archangel against them, things could get messy rather quickly. So far it seems that the entire battle has reached a tipping point, where a single blow could decide the outcome."

"That bad, huh? Why are we being deployed to an already lost battle?" Akira couldn't clearly identify the voice of the speaker, but he suspected that it was probably the new guy. Andera or something like that, he never was good with remembering names. The following brief silence was a clear sign that it had indeed been the new member of the team, since everyone who had served under Carlos knew better than to ask a stupid question.

As expected, Carlos's glare only intensified and though it was aimed only at one of his subordinates, the fact that they were all on the same channel mean that everyone got a taste of it. "Okay, you're new, so I'll let that one pass. This time. But I would advise you to focus your tiny brain on what I have to say and think before asking stupid questions." Carlos replied with a deep sigh, as if summoning extra patience in order to deal with the current problem. "I said that things look bad not lost. The battle could go either way. All it takes is a slight nudge in the right direction, which is exactly what we're going to provide." Carlos waited for a moment, expecting the new guy to come up with another stupid question. Fortunately, the guy seemed to get the message and stayed quiet. Good. "Now, since there's not much time left, I'll quickly go over the plan. Once deployed we'll split up in two groups. Akira, you'll take Andera, Reika, Sorneto and Briggs and head towards the main fleet. Focus on the Archangel above anything else. Use the heavy missiles to deal as much damage to the damned thing as possible. I'll take everyone else and see what we can do about capturing or destroying the main objective. Any questions?"

Akira recalled one detail he had noticed during the initial briefing. "What about Zala Team? I thought they were supposed to aid our forces and go after the Archangel and its Mobile Suits." Akira mentioning the Zala Team seemed to have absolutely no effect on Carlos. Everyone knew that his little brother was a member of said team, so they were slightly curious to see what kind of a person this Dearka guy was supposed to be and why did Carlos seemed to dislike him.

Carlos paused only a moment before answering. "We lost contact with them shortly before the battle began. Word on the ground is their sub got hit by an airstrike … Either way it doesn't matter. We have a mission to accomplish and that's exactly what we're going to do. Once the fighting's over we'll see what we can do about them."

"Ten seconds until deployment." The computer announced, signaling the end of any conversation. As one, twelve pairs of hands gripped the controls while twelve pairs of eyes stared at the timers.

"Remember to spread out after deployment." Akira offered a quick advice, speaking from personal experience. "One Mobile Suit is a waste of ammo; a tight formation is a juicy opportunity."

"Good luck, do your best and I'll see you all on the ground." Carlos wished his pilots good luck. They would need it, since it was during the descent that Mobile Suits were at their most vulnerable.

A loud series of explosions rippled across the surface of the three drop pods, as small explosive charges detonated in quick succession. All three drop pods disintegrated in a controlled manner, coming apart like overripe fruits. The outer layers were flung far away from the pod, while the integral parts shattered into tiny pieces and flew upwards through carefully calculated paths, so that nothing would impede the Mobile Suits within. As the drop pods vanished in a cloud of debris, the only thing that was left was a group of dozen Mobile Suits. The giant machines quickly spread in a loose formation and, with their weapons and pilots ready, headed towards the battle, ready to deliver the deciding blow.

xxxxx

Captain William Sutherland felt good. A lot of things seemed to be happening exactly as expected. He ran a satisfied gaze over the situation reports and nodded. Yes, the situation couldn't be any better. Though both sides had suffered serious casualties, the battle was still raging on, neither side willing to back down first. With both sides already committed to the battle, it left him free to choose where and when to intervene. More importantly, the main prize, the downed AC was still intact and was yet to be loaded onto a Eurasian ship. Something which would have complicated his plans greatly. And to think that he had doubted the successful outcome of this mission. He had truly arrived at the best possible moment.

"We managed to cross the entire Pacific from Panama to here in only three days. I have to say, I'm greatly impressed. I didn't think this was possible. I'm certain we broke some kind of a speed record." He turned his attention to a fellow Captain, the person in charge of the ship William was currently on.

"At least for once, the specs didn't lie." The Captain scratched his beard and smiled. "Stormchaser and Albatross, a couple of fine ships indeed." He said, indicating the two ship classes, represented by two ships from each class that made up the small group.

Both the Stormchaser and Albatross were the very first ships of the latest generation, designed for rapid deployment and high speed engagements, not only that, but they incorporated several of the latest technological achievements as well. The Stormchaser class frigates were the high speed killers, their powerful engines allowing them to run circles around any ship currently in service. In addition to the speed, the frigates sported beam weaponry, instead of conventional cannons. Their relatively small size wasn't a problem, considering that they blew through most ship armor like soft cheese. The Albatross was a transport ship. Though fast and maneuverable, it had no place in combat, since its purpose wasn't to fight battles. Its true value lied in its cargo hold, which was big enough, and designed to house and deploy a squad of five Mobile Suits.

"Indeed. I just hope their performance will be just as exemplary when it comes to actual combat." William pointed out whilst nodding towards the battle ahead. Truth be told, he was feeling a bit anxious to go into combat while aboard a mere frigate, even a highly advanced one, especially when his presence in actual battle wasn't required. He was sent here for a different purpose. Still, it wasn't like he had a choice. If the AC was destroyed or claimed by ZAFT, or Eurasians, all of this would have been for nothing. William was sent here to make sure that all four ships left these islands with the destroyed AC in their possession. And if that meant going into combat, then that's exactly what he would have to do. "Alright. Let's get this over with. Notify Captain Logan and then set course towards the enemy fleet." Though William held the same rank as the Captain whose ship was on. He still carried immense authority with him due to his close ties with Blue Cosmos's and Alliance High Command's leadership.

The Captain nodded in agreement and relayed the order to his crew, who passed it on to other ships. A few moments later, the hull of the frigate trembled as the powerful engines were brought to full combat speed and the ship shot towards the battle like an arrow from a bow.

xxxxx

"I hope everyone understands the situation we're in." The gruff voice of Gunnar Logan announced to the rest of his team. "Our superiors, and everyone else seem to consider this a mere battle, but they are wrong. They are very wrong." A loud metallic groan interrupted his speech as their transport ship crossed the waves towards its destination. "In a couple of moments we will join that battle, one like many others that have been fought in this war. But mark my words boys and girls. The moment we step off this ship and head into combat, this battle, no … this entire war, will change. The future will change, everything will change, for the war will never be the same … Think about it. This is history in the making and every one of us is going to be part of it." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as if tasting the destiny that lay in front of him. When he opened them again, his voice was a mere whisper, trembling with emotion.

"That is why you all should realize the importance of the task that lies ahead. Our presence will give the enemy an entirely new experience to take home with them. Our actions, our performance and even our deaths shall shape the nature of that impression. Therefore, we must make sure to do our best and make sure the enemy remembers this day with fear in their hearts … So do not hesitate and do not waver. Do what you must in order to bring home victory." A brief signal sounded throughout the interior of the ship, announcing that the ship was only a few seconds away from finishing the approach and opening the hatches.

"Remember, ultimately we're already dead. It is the way we face our deaths that makes us who we are. Falling to a worthy foe is just as glorious as triumphing over him … Glory is out there, on the Marshall Islands, and it is up to you what shape will it take. A glorious death or a triumphant victory, the difference lies in your hands." The ship trembled as it came to abrupt halt near one of the islands. A second later two hatches, one on either side, folded open, providing exit from the hangar.

Logan gripped his hands and exhaled a deep, long breath. "All pilots! FOLLOW ME TO GLORY!" He cried both over the radio and the external speakers as he charged out of the ship. The rest of his team, joined by that from the other ship, followed close behind as a total of ten Alliance-made Mobile Suits rush towards the battle. The face of war had changed yet again.

xxxxx

As the reinforcements on either side made their way towards the battle, there was another group about to make an entrance onto the battlefield. Or rather a return. Not far from the island where the Ginn group had met its demise at the hands of the Archangel's pilots. The surface of the ocean started to swirl in agitation as numerous bubbles of air surfaced from the depths and broke the surface of the water. The amount and size of the bubbles continued to increase in both size and amount until a large surface of the ocean looked like it was boiling.

Eventually a dark silhouette formed in the water. Its shape and features grew more detailed as it made its way towards the surface, surrounded by a swarm of bubbles. The features soon were clear enough to distinguish the streamlined shape, mechanically formed curves and protrusions. Additional details revealed a clearly metallic gleam as well as indications of various hatches. By the time these details came to clear view, the object was already breaking the surface of the water. Its positive buoyancy so strong, it actually jumped out of the water for a short while, before coming back down with a splash, big enough to hide it from view. When the splash died down, and the object was once again visible, it turned out that it was a Vosgulov class submarine carrier.

The submarine carrier swayed in the water for a while, but eventually calmed down to a point where it was more or less stable. A few moments later, the vessel started moving away from the nearby island, towards the group of Oceanian transports, where it would be safer from attacks. Safety was something the submarine carrier truly needed, since it was operating far from its optimal efficiency. A large hole in its port side was the reason of the erratic and slow movement. The hole was the result of receiving a hit from an aerial torpedo, dropped earlier by Eurasian naval bomber.

Though the vessel had managed to launch the countermeasures and avoid one of the torpedoes, the second one hadn't been fooled by the decoys and had struck the Cousteau's hull. The explosion from the torpedo itself hadn't been that strong, the warhead wasn't capable of carrying large amounts of explosives. However, as with all explosions taking place underwater, they were made more powerful by the water around. Since the water was much denser than air and was incompressible, it prevented the blast wave from dissipating too quickly. Instead it focused the energy and turned an average explosion into a devastating one.

The hit had resulted in the Cousteau losing its main engine room, along with most of the crew that worked there, which further meant a total loss of all power to the sub. The explosion had also damaged the secondary backup generators, thus preventing immediate and effective damage control from being carried out. The sub had also taken a lot of water aboard since the crew had been forced to manually close off all the sections to the damaged part of the sub in order to prevent it from flooding completely. This had caused more problems as the vessel was destabilized and had started to sink. Hope had returned once the crew had managed to repair the backup generators and get the power flowing again. With power on, a lot of the flooded sections could be drained and closed off from the bridge of the sub. Once the sub had been stabilized, the crew had emptied the main ballast tanks in order to return to the surface.

Once the Cousteau reached a location where it felt relatively safe, the vertical three launch tubes slowly swung open. A few seconds later, three machines rose out of the launch tubes and landed on the sub's hull, waiting for two more to join them. A few moments later, the Aegis and the Blitz rose from the launch tubes and joined the Romeo, the Duel and the Buster on top of the sub. All five machines took only a moment to get a look at their surroundings before turning in the direction of the various battles being fought on and around the nearby islands.

"Damn. I've never been so glad to see that thermonuclear ball in the skies. I thought we were goners for sure." Dearka whistled in relief while observing the traces of battle on the nearby island. Much to his dislike there were an awful lot of ZAFT design Mobile Suit pieces lying around. "Having to wade through a half flooded, sinking sub to the hangar in order to get to our Mobile Suits … Shit, almost enough to make you take up religion."

Yzak tightened the Duel's grip around the shield and silently shook his head in agreement. He was being extra careful to make sure that the video comms were off, so that no one could see the relieved look on his face. He had a reputation to uphold after all. "Yeah, it was an unpleasant experience. One I'm not eager to repeat. Ever … Hmm. Looks like the battle has already started and from the looks of those pieces over there, it's not going in our favor." He added once his analytical side kicked in.

Athrun shared a quick look and shook his head. "We lost too much time with that sub." He hooked up his computer to the local ZAFT combat network in order to bring himself up to date with the overall situation. The report turned out to be exactly like he suspected. ZAFT and their Oceanian allies had lost the initial momentum and were bogged down both on the ground and on the water. He continued to peruse the reports until a sudden piece of information caught his attention. "What the… The Archangel's here." He felt the attention of his comrades turn towards him. "That's right. Check the TacRep. As far as I see the Archangel's currently fighting our fleet and is causing a hell of a mess. The only thing that prevents that ship from wiping out the fleet completely are our Dinns and they're getting slowly shot down by the Alliance aircraft and anti-air fire."

"The Archangel? It is times like these that almost make me believe in some divine intervention." Yzak's eyes lit up. "Got anything on the Strike?"

"You can check the system yourself, Yzak. But to answer your question, no, there has been no sightings of the Strike. As for the Dingo and the Pulverizer. The Pulverizer is somewhere on the main island, probably protecting the main objective, whereas the Dingo has been going from island to island and causing all sorts of trouble for the amphibious landings."

"Fuck those two I want the Strike." Yzak didn't bother to listen to Athrun's entire answer.

"Listen, this is not the time to settle a grudge. We have to help our allies." Nicol defended his friend.

The Buster suddenly raised one hand and pointed at the skies. "Hey, look, more reinforcements … my brother's team has arrived." He added after a brief pause, watching the twelve Mobile Suits split into two groups. The largest one looked like it was heading towards the main island; the second one was aiming towards the main naval battle, probably going after the Archangel. "Looks like they're going after the most important things. The destroyed AC and the Archangel."

"I think that's exactly what we're going to do as well. Taking care of the main objective as well as neutralizing the Archangel will practically seal the entire battle in our favor." Athrun laid out his plan, a bit of excitement creeping into his voice. "This is what we're going to do. "Nicol, Dearka, you two go and take care of that downed AC. Try to secure it if possible. If not, destroy it. We can't allow that tech to fall into the Alliance's hands. Yzak, Juliet, you two are coming with me. We'll take care of the Archangel."

However, Yzak wasn't in the mood to play along without putting up any fight. "No, no, no. I already told you, I'm going to find the Strike and take care of some unfinished business."

"Yzak's right. Some of us have a score to settle with that guy." Juliet agreed with Yzak. A rather historical moment. Some part of her wanted to go and take care of the Pulverizer, instead of the Archangel, but she dismissed such thoughts. That contract was over; the Pulverizer was no longer of her concern. Sure, if she ran into it, Juliet would put it down just like anyone else, but there was absolutely no reason to seek out that machine on purpose. Besides, she still remembered the shot the Strike had landed back in the desert.

"I don't care about your grudges and vendettas. You are coming with me!" Athrun said a bit more forcefully than intended. The sternness in his voice surprising even him. It wasn't like him to actually order around his friends, most likely the situation was getting on his nerves. "Besides, I'm fairly certain that if we attack the Archangel, the Strike will immediately come to us. The pilot of that machine has always placed the safety of the Archangel above anything else." He added in a friendlier voice. Yzak and Juliet would be more willing to aid him if there was something in it for them.

For Juliet it didn't take long to see the logic in Athrun's words. "Good point, boss. Lead the way." Yzak didn't say anything, but that was exactly what Athrun expected, no doubt his friend had noticed the commanding tone in Athrun's voice and was busy considering what to make of it. Still, now was not the time for socializing. They had a battle to win.

"Okay, everyone, move out!" Atrun commanded and ordered the Aegis in a low flight over the ocean towards the destination. Even without the aid of the flight platforms, they were all capable of flight, albeit a slow one. Behind him, all other members of his team fell in formation behind him.

As they made their way across the ocean, with Dearka and Nicol slowly peeling off towards their own battle, a sudden realization flashed across Athrun's mind. He was going to have to fight Kira again. He was certain about that. The problem was that he still had doubts about his ability to actually fire at his friend with the intent to kill. What made his dilemma even worse was the fact that this battle was different. It was no longer a group of Mobile Suits hunting down a fleeing ship with a few Mobile Suits aboard. This time, he and Kira were parts of a greater whole. A greater battle, that raged around them. The choice between life and death would certainly affect the lives of numerous people around them and could be the difference between victory and defeat, and Athrun quietly prayed that, when the time came, he would be able to make that decision.

xxxxx

"Thanks Kira." Tolle commented Kira's most recent shot that had shot down a Dinn. "I thought he was going to get me." He added and leveled out his Skygrasper from the frantic evasive maneuver he'd been trying to perform a few seconds earlier.

"Don't worry, I got your back." Kira smiled, but his reply fell on deaf ears as the Skygrasper quickly left the nearby area, heading towards a large furball where five Eurasian airplanes were hounding a single Dinn without much success. The Dinn class Mobile Suits were simply too maneuverable and agile in close quarters aerial combat for conventional aircraft to bring it down easily. That and the increased amount of armor the Mobile Suit carried meant that even when the shots did land, it didn't guarantee a kill. Fortunately for the Eurasians, Tolle's Skygrasper carried beam weapons which were more than enough to deal with the Dinn's armor. Sensing no immediate danger nearby, Kira placed the Strike into a hover mode, making the machine stand relatively still as he surveyed the battlefield from above.

From the looks of it, things were looking pretty god for the Alliance forces. The Oceanian fleet was pulling back to a stand-off range, willing to exchange long range volleys than risk taking the fight to closer quarters, especially after losing two ships to the Archangel's weapons almost simultaneously. The submarine carriers, as well as a couple of underwater Mobile Suits were busy assaulting the destroyer ring around the Archangel, but the constant rain of depth charges and torpedoes were holding them at bay. At least for now. One ship was already sinking and, from the looks of it, two more had some difficulties moving. Probably damage to the engines or steering, Kira wasn't sure.

The one ship that could end this entire battle in a couple of minutes, the Archangel, was busy fending off aerial assaults from several Dinns as well as underwater sneak attacks from Goohn and Zno class Mobile Suits. The evasive maneuvers, along with the range, were making any precise shot at the enemy fleet difficult. The few potshots the Archangel risked to snap off once in a while were ineffective. A little ray of hope was the numerous Eurasian fighters in the air. They were the only thing preventing the Archangel from getting swarmed and putting more strain on the already overburdened point defenses. Though the Eurasians outnumbered the Dinns by a huge margin, the fight was more even than many of them liked. They were losing far too many planes and not killing nearly enough Mobile Suits. Even with the addition of the Archangel's two Skygraspers, the fight was still long from over.

Kira watched one of the fighter planes get shredded by a Dinn's shotgun blast and made up his mind. He had to intervene and take out the Dinns. As long as the Archangel was distracted by attacks from above, it could not engage the enemy ships properly. Taking out the Mobile Suits would also allow friendly fighters to establish air superiority and take the battle to the ground and naval targets, further shifting the balance in their favor.

He was about to fire his thrusters and head into the fray when a panicked voice screamed over the main Alliance frequency. "Drop pods! We're dead! We're all fucki…" The voice was cut off shortly before completing the sentence, apparently someone had dealt with the panicked soldier, but the words had already been said, and heard.

With a pull of the controls Kira yanked the Strike around, his eyes closely on the main screen, carefully searching for the drop pods. The arrival of additional Mobile Suits could really screw things up. Therefore he had to observe their movements and, if needed, decide how and where to intervene. The fact that in the case of intervention he would not be able to help out in the aerial battle did not go unnoticed. Kira just hoped that the Archangel and Eurasians will be able to manage by themselves. He spared a quick glance at the dogfights, just in time to see Mu's Skygrasper blast off both legs of a Dinn. The sight made him feel a little better. There were plenty of other people capable of defending the Archangel.

A quick beep on his sensors brought his gaze back to the main screen. It didn't take long for him to spot the reinforcements. A group of twelve Mobile Suits emerged from the clouds and blitzed towards the ground below, the massive flares from their boosters visible even from the ground as the Mobile Suits used them to both slow down their fall and maneuver into position. The entire formation split into two groups. One group with five machines, the other one with seven. As soon as that was done, both groups, despite being too high to properly make out their landing zones, started drifting apart from each other.

All available Eurasian forces reacted to their arrival by launching all the long range missiles they could. Unfortunately, though undeniably heroic, the action was not impressive, since it was only the two cruisers who fired the missiles. All other ships were either unable to do so or were too busy to spare the time and effort. As a result the dozen missiles were easily shredded by machine gun fire well before they reached their targets. Not just that, but the Ginn pilots even made it look easy, as they fired short and precise bursts.

A few seconds later, once the missile launchers were reloaded, the cruisers fired again. Resulting in the exact same outcome as before. Other, shorter ranged missiles were fired from several locations on the islands as well, but their efforts were rendered useless by the defensive fire. All the missiles fired at the descending Mobile Suits were shot down with contemptuous ease. There were simply not enough effective anti-air defenses to overwhelm the ZAFT machines through sheer numbers. And the pilots were too skilled for someone to hope score a lucky hit with a missile. The message was clear to all, the Mobile Suits were coming down and there was nothing the Alliance forces could do to prevent that.

Kira's eyes closely followed the nearest group, one consisting of five Ginns. The group seemed to be heading in his general direction, but at the same time he was certain they weren't coming after him. He wasn't even sure if they were aware of him, since it was the dogfight that was certain to draw the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Still, just to be sure, Kira raised the Strike's shield in front of him protectively and used the long range targeting system to get a better look at the enemy. What he saw, made little sense, at first. Two Ginns were carrying a heavy missile launcher in each arm. The third one was wielding a long barreled recoilless rifle. The last two carried no special weapons at all, though one of them did have two machine guns instead of the usual one. Kira watched the group of Mobile Suits land on a small island and then, suddenly, everything clicked in place. The Mobile Suits were after the Archangel! The heavy weapons they carried were perfectly suited for anti-ship operations. And the small island they had landed on, presented a good line of sight and a clear line of fire at the white ship.

Just as that thought was going through Kira's mind, his worries became reality. Three Ginns took up firing positions and after a brief adjustment to the targeting systems, let loose a mixed salvo of various types of missiles. Screaming a desperate warning to the Archangel, Kira swooped in from his position, the beam rifle shrieking in the Strike's grip as one beam was fired after another. Unfortunately for him, Kira's lack of instant reaction to the Ginn force resulted in none of the missiles being shot down by his attempts. He watched in powerless horror as the missiles shot towards the target. Few of the Archangel's point defense weapons turned to meet them, but they too a little bit too long to lock onto the incoming threat. Three missiles were torn to shreds by the CIWS fire, another one was claimed by the fragments from the destroyed ones. Two more missiles went up before reaching their target, one was shot down by Mu, the other one accidentally impacted an unfortunate Eurasian fighter. The airplane's pilot had been too engrossed with chasing down a Dinn to notice the missile. Still, there were more than ten missiles remaining and all of them struck the target.

A series of explosions lit up across the Archangel's starboard side as the missile warheads went off in powerful blasts. Though the ablative armor was highly resistant to damage, there was a limit to how much punishment it could take. Metal twisted and shattered under the onslaught. The starboard Gotfried cannon was torn off its assembly, both barrels smashed into pieces. The Valiant linear cannon was destroyed as well, clipped in half by one of the heavy missiles, leaving behind a jagged stump, half smashed into the ship's hull. Several holes of various sizes were blasted in the hull, leaving several unfortunate crewmembers dead. The damaged sections trailed smoke and fire like blood from a wound as fire from the explosions grew inside the ship.

Kira went pale from the sight that unfolded before him. His mind momentarily disconnected from his body as it worked through the shock. That brief moment of hesitation had cost him and the Archangel. Though the ship was far from destroyed and was only wounded, loosing almost half of its armament seriously decreased its combat capabilities. There was also the crew to consider, what if his friends had been caught in the blast? What if Flay… The trail of thoughts was broken when he saw the Ginn with the recoilless rifle take another aim at the ship. The sight broke all chains that had bounded his limbs and propelled him into action. Kira felt that familiar sensation of cold determination flow inside him, the same which had always allowed him to triumph over his opponents. The one which served as the key to unlock that extra bit of power hidden inside him. Unfortunately, no matter how much he desired it, Kira could not focus himself enough to take the final step over the edge. Fear and concern about his friends and the rest of the Archangel roiled inside him, making him lose his focus, preventing him from being one hundred percent into the fight.

Still, even though he was worried about the Archangel it didn't prevent him from taking action. With a loud cry over the radio, a desperate attempt to distract the enemy long enough for him to get close, Kira gunned the Strike's thrusters and charged at the formation of ZAFT Ginns. The distraction worked. All five Ginns turned their attention on him and opened fire at the same time. Kira brought up the shield and pushed the thrusters even harder. It didn't matter how much firepower they were throwing at him, none of them would take another shot at the Archangel.

xxxxx

"FUUUCK!" Daniel jerked the controls, moving the Pulverizer out of the ion beam's way. A second later he screamed and pulled the controls again, just barely dodging a long machine gun burst from another Ginn. The maneuver ended up with him facing the jungle and Daniel didn't waste a second moving the Pulverizer towards the trees as quickly as he could. Staying out on the beach with those crazies meant death. Perhaps he shouldn't have fired at them in the first place.

From the moment he had picked up the sound of the orbital drop pods making their way through the atmosphere, things had gone to hell real quick. Like everyone else he had seen the Mobile Suits emerge from the clouds and had witnessed the unsuccessful attempts of intercepting them. He had also seen them split up into two groups, each heading for a different location. At that point he had done something that, in retrospect, turned out to be incredibly stupid. He had fired the bolt cannon at the Mobile Suits, hoping to score a hit. Unfortunately, it had turned out that the bolt cannon lacked the range to reach the enemy and the cobalt orb had dissolved into air, barely half way across the distance. His attempt had marked him out for the enemy, resulting in two Ginns dropping almost on top of him. The others had landed somewhere…

A third Ginn emerged from the trees in front of him, and took a swipe with the heavy sword in its hand. The blow struck the Pulverizer in the left shoulder. Though the sword failed to penetrate the armor, the force of the blow was enough to knock the blue and copper brown machine to one knee. Three shots from the Ginn's machine gun to the Pulverizer's core knocked it completely on the ground. Daniel tried to raise up, just enough to fire the shoulder weapon at the enemy, but didn't get that far. His attempt was stopped by another Ginn stepping on the Pulverizer's right shoulder, pinning it to the ground.

Fear pumping loudly in his temples, Daniel was all too aware of the machine gun's muzzle aimed at the Pulverizer. Thousands of thoughts shot through his mind, but only one of them was stronger than others. "What the hell? Is that it? Am I going to die?" He voiced the thought while trying to come up with a solution. Nothing else came to mind. He was all alone against four Ginns. Make it six Ginns and one Cugue, as his sensors picked up new contacts nearby.

"And this is the machine that caused so much trouble for our forces?" The pilot of the Ginn holding him in place said over the speakers, talking both to his comrades and Daniel as well. The Ginn then shifted the camera eye to glare directly into the Pulverizer's large bug type eyes. "You're pathetic, you know that? You're just another stupid, shit-covered Trog trying to do something your fucking kind has absolutely no chance in achieving … The only thing you kind is good for is wallowing in the mud like you are now, Trog." The unknown pilot placed emphasis on the last word, the racial slur Coordinators had for Naturals. The Ginn raised its foot only to smash it into the Pulverizer's face, grinding the head into the sand.

Several alarms blared at him, warning Daniel about the immense stress placed on the neck assembly. But he paid them no heed, since there was nothing he could do right now. A tide of fear was threatening to drown all rational thinking, but with a monstrous effort of will Daniel actually managed to maintain control over himself. He had absolutely no idea how he was able to do that, but he tried not to think about it. Instead he focused his mind on more important matters. He had to find a way out of the situation.

The Ginn stopped grinding the Pulverizer's head into the ground and removed the foot while keeping the machine gun aimed at the downed machine. When it didn't move, the pilot let out a short laugh and addressed his comrades. "Looks like he's out of the fight. Must have been something I said. Anyway, I think we don't have to worry about this one." He said and equipped the sword. At the same time he turned his attention to the Cgue standing a brief distance away. "Commander, so how are we going to do this? Do I ask him to surrender or do I simply cut him out of there?" Daniel heard everything, since the pilot hadn't bothered to switch to a private frequency, using the speakers instead. It turned out to be a mistake.

Realizing that the enemy's attention was not focused solely on him, Daniel sensed an opportunity to escape, or at least an opportunity to do something, since escape was near impossible. At least not now when there were so many hostiles nearby. Part of him, the frightened part, wondered what was the point of doing anything at all, since there was no way for him to break free, it would be a lot easier to simply remain on the ground and wait for the ZAFT Commander to make a decision.

Another part of him, the one that was still in control of his mind, told his fear to shut up if it knew what was good for it, and gave Daniel the mental equivalent of a kick. It was the part of him that refused to remain on the ground and wait for the killing blow to come. It refused to go down quietly without a fight. And it certainly refused to let the ZAFT bastard walk away after all those insults. That alone was enough to galvanize Daniel into action. He partially realized that he was most likely about to die, but it didn't matter. At least not in the usual way. No, this time it was different. This time he was full of determination to go down fighting. And if he had to die then he would make sure to take at least one of the enemy pilots with him.

He slammed down on the controls so hard he was sure he'd cracked them, but it hardly mattered right now. He had to act. Now! He floored the pedals and sent all available power to the boosters. The Pulverizer shot upwards as if it had been fired from a gun. The Ginn standing nearby was sent staggering backwards, as the force from the booster backwash blew it and a pile of nearby sand in every direction. Everything had happened so suddenly, no one had been able to aim, much less shoot at the Pulverizer.

The boost lasted only a second or two; Daniel didn't manage to keep his foot on the pedal as the acceleration pushed him into the seat. As a result the Pulverizer shot barely over fifty meters into the air and with no additional propulsion, soon came back down. Fortunately Daniel managed to shift the machine's alignment enough so that it landed on its feet. At that same moment he ignited the laser blades and blitzed towards the nearest enemy. Daniel had no idea what exactly he was going to do and why he was doing the things he was. He was just making things up as he went, relying more on instincts than anything else.

"Watch out! He's coming right at you!" Carlos yelled at his subordinate and leveled his machine gun to blow the attacker to bits. However, he, along with everyone else, instantly realized the problem they faced. They were standing all around the enemy machine, which meant that any kind of fire could potentially damage others. "Shit, we're too close, spread out." He ordered and moved backwards, his eyes following the Pulverizer's movements as it hounded Albert's Ginn, the one who had humiliated the Alliance pilot so recently.

Albert desperately tried to put some distance between him and the Pulverizer, but his Ginn was too slow, especially when retreating backwards. He did attempt to force the enemy to back off by swinging the sword, but only managed to lose half of the weapon when it met the cobalt blades of the enemy machine. "Help me! Get this fuck off of me!" He cried and hurled the damaged sword at the opponent. Daniel didn't even bother to dodge since he knew how pointless the action was. The weapon hit the Pulverizer squarely in the head, but other than the noise of impact, achieved nothing.

A sudden thrust of the laser blade gouged a deep cut in the Ginn's left side. However, the attack struck only the surface armor, leaving the Mobile Suit itself intact. Daniel slashed again, this time scoring a hit across the cockpit section, but as before, the wound was not deep enough to make permanent damage. The third attempt was interrupted by solid impacts to the back of the Pulverizer, as one of the Ginns had risked a shot with the machine gun. Though armor splinters flew in every direction, the damage itself was very light. The machine gun rounds were capable of blowing nothing more than shallow craters into the armor.

In response, the Pulverizer all but hugged the target, making any other ranged weapon attack impossible due to the extreme proximity to the Ginn. Sometime during his pursuit of the Ginn, Daniel had realized the potential advantage he had over the enemies. Staying close to one of them meant safety, standing alone in the field meant death. As a result he made a note not to back away from the Ginn, no matter what.

His plan was soon thrown in jeopardy when another Ginn rushed towards them, the sword held firmly in its grip. The Ginn made a quick thrust to the Pulverizer's head, but Daniel ducked under the attack and made a quick thrust of his own, aiming it at the cockpit of the Ginn. Unfortunately his opponent sidestepped his attempt to eviscerate it. It was only then Daniel realized that this was all a diversion. The damaged Ginn he'd been pursuing had used the opportunity to escape. Daniel's current opponent was also trying to withdraw so that others could finish off the Pulverizer.

After realizing his mistake Daniel tried to correct it by leaping towards the retreating Mobile Suit. However, this one was much more skilled than the first one. Instead of continuing the retreat, the Ginn leveled its sword at waist height and, holding it like a spear, counter-charged. Caught completely off guard by the sudden attack, Daniel had no chance to avoid it. With a loud, metallic shriek, the tip of the sword punched through the Pulverizer's right thigh. The weight of the attack, focused on the small point of the tip, was more than enough to pierce the armor. A large gap opened up on the Pulverizer's thigh as the sword fought its way towards the interior systems. Unfortunately, the angle of its movement, along with the sheer amount of resistance the blade encountered, placed too much strain on the Ginn's hand, forcing it to drop the sword. Both machines collided soon after that, but this time, luck was on Daniel's side, due to the Pulverizer's lower center of gravity and the angle of the movement. The Ginn landed heavily on its side, whereas the Pulverizer only staggered for a moment and quickly recovered.

With the reports of damage to some of the internal systems blaring at him, Daniel momentarily forgot about his plan and instead obeyed the first thought that came into his mind. Fearing that the enemy would attack him again and cause further damage, Daniel turned the Pulverizer around and plunged both laser blades into the Ginn's chest as it tried to get back up. He pushed them as far as he could, the bright blades burning through the metal with laughable ease. The ground underneath the now motionless form turned into glass when the laser blades came out through the back of the Mobile Suit and poured their intense heat into the sand below.

Droplets of molten metal flew to the sides when Daniel pulled out the laser blades in a sideways motion, cutting the machine in half. The Mobile Suit posed no danger. He was certain of that. The Ginn was a destroyed wreck whereas the pilot was nothing more than a tiny pile of ash. Yes, there was no danger from this one. _What about the others?_ The thought flashed in his mind and, in an instant, he noticed the other Mobile Suits around him. None of them was near enough for him to reach quickly and they all had their weapons aimed at him. "Oh, crap…" Daniel managed before the sound of machine guns disrupted any further thoughts.

xxxxx

Jack observed the burning wrecks in front of him with a satisfied grin. Things were looking good. At least in his proximity. The attackers were defeated, crushed even, after he indulged his bloodthirsty side and went after the retreating landing craft. The small vessels had barely left the shore before was clear of the trees and had a clean line of fire. It had been a turkey shoot. Caught in mid-turn, there was little the Oceanians could do in the way of evasive maneuvers. One by one, the landing craft were blown apart by the heavy machine gun the Dingo sported.

A stray round impacting the ground next to him, brought Jack out of his reverie. There was still a battle going on, now was not the time to lose focus. It would be a humiliating death if he was taken down by stray shots. Certainly not the way a hero should die. Best not to stand in the open and leave himself vulnerable. If stray rounds were becoming dangerous, who knew what kind of nasty weapon could be aimed at him right now. Jack decided to take a quick run around the coast of the island he was one, in order to check for other potential targets and take a look at other nearby islands as well.

He didn't get far before he noticed a sight that left what felt like a ball of ice in his stomach. He magnified the image to get a better look of the sight in front of him, as he recalled the main reason for his presence on Earth. The Pulverizer, the machine Jack had been hired to protect and escort to Alaska, was currently completely unprotected. To make matters worse, the Pulverizer was being attacked by a significant number of enemies. A group of Ginns, plus a model he did not recognize, were currently having their way with the Muscle Tracer. Though Jack could see the Pulverizer trying to fight back, he did not fool himself into thinking … hoping that Daniel would be capable of beating off his attackers. The guy didn't have the skills, only pure instincts and a shitload of luck on his side. Sure they were good instincts, Jack admitted, but no one won a fight by relying on instincts alone.

With every second worth its weight in gold, Jack quickly measured the distance between him and the island where the Pulverizer was. Around a kilometer or so. Good enough. He then ordered the Dingo to fully face the intended destination before making a quick check on all the major systems. Everything looked good and was working properly. With a tiny grin, he pressed one of the buttons on the control joystick twice and then thumbed another one, activating the Overboost system. Afterwards he sat back and made sure his back was fully resting against the seat. The fireworks were about to begin. All that remained was to hold on and make sure the aim did not veer off.

Deep inside the Dingo's core, the fusion reactor started humming as a large portion of its power was directed away from it. The internal temperature started to climb rapidly because of the massive drain, but remained well inside the safety zone. For now. On the Dingo's back, where the shoulder blades on a human would be located, large covers popped open, revealing several sets of large, additional boosters. The middle of the boosters started to glow a bright light as the energy inside them grew up. Small lights came into existence near the booster mufflers when the heat inside them grew so intense it ignited the small dust particles in the air. The Dingo planted its feet at shoulder width and slightly bent its knees in preparation. It was about time the last portion of required energy was poured into the capacitors and then it was released. An ear piercing howl turned into a tremendous roar as all the built up energy was expelled through the additional boosters as a massive flare of light. The Dingo shot forward as if fired from cannon, leaving behind scorched sand, burning trees and a cloud of steam.

xxxxx

Despite the loss of a pilot Carlos had a satisfied smirk on his face. Perhaps not satisfied, but definitely one filled with certainty as he observed his team's fight with the Pulverizer. In truth it wasn't much of a fight, a fight indicated a challenge, danger to both sides involved. This was different; it was a systematic destruction of an enemy machine. The destruction was a bit harder than he expected, but he wasn't worried, it only meant that it would take a bit longer. After all, nothing was indestructible. There was always a limit. Always.

Their plan was actually very simple and had been provided to them by the mistake of the Pulverizer's pilot. Though he had destroyed the Ginn, it had left the Alliance pilot completely alone in the middle of their formation. With no friendlies near the Pulverizer and, after making sure to stay out of each others line of fire, all six ZAFT pilots were free to open fire at the enemy. As expected, the enemy tried to dodge and close the distance to one of them, but all such attempts were countered by the targeted pilot taking a step back, while everyone else forced the Pulverizer back with intense fire, often landing several shots in the process. It had been a close call a few times, glowing scars on several Ginns proved that. But those were just scars, nothing more. The Pulverizer wasn't inflicting enough damage to decrease the amount of opponents. All attempts of ranged retaliation were also hindered by evasive maneuvers and several shots striking the armor whenever the Pulverizer tried to take aim with the stubby cannon behind its shoulder. Seeing an opening before him, Carlos unloaded a six round burst from his shield's 28mm gatling cannon. Though of small caliber, the rounds possessed excellent armor piercing capabilities, surpassing even those of the standard issue 76mm machine gun. The rounds impacted the damaged thigh and, for the first time, they scored actual damage.

Armor shards flew in various directions, followed closely by fragments of the underlying hull. Muffled explosions further deepened the wound, causing a shower of sparks and more fragments to shower forth from the freshly ripped hole. The Pulverizer stumbled in the middle of an evasive maneuver and almost tripped when the damage to the thigh caused the right knee to lock up for a moment. Though the disability lasted only for a second or two, it was more than enough for more rounds to find their target. And with most of the armor already cracked and compromised from all the previous impacts, the Pulverizer's defensive abilities were fast becoming nonexistent and finally gave in.

The left laser blade flickered several times before turning into an extremely bright beam that burnt a black mark into the ground as the blade's containment systems were shot to pieces. The beam lasted only for a moment, the emitter itself shutting down for safety reasons, only to be destroyed a second later. The damaged thigh was exposed to even more punishment and came apart, causing the Pulverizer to fall to the ground, as it suddenly lost its leg. The stubby cannon sent an errant shot into the skies, before a ion beam sliced it off. Large holes were blasted into the Pulverizer's core where the already weakened sections could no longer hold out against the incoming fire. The front of the core was still pristine; the PS armor unyielding under the onslaught, but it hardly mattered when the rest of the Pulverizer was getting torn to shreds. By the time the machine hit the ground, it was almost bereft of the other arm as well, only a few cables were still keeping the shoulder attached to the core, leaving the right arm to hang limply by the Pulverizer's side.

"Hold your fire!" Carlos ordered his pilots. The shooting soon died down, allowing him to approach the downed machine and examine it closer. He surveyed the damage and shook his head in mild admiration. Despite all the damage, the Pulverizer was still, more or less, in one piece. That was some armor, he couldn't wait until ZAFT managed to get their hands on the armor technology and started replicating it. He gasped sharply when part of the Pulverizer's armor suddenly turned grey. Apparently the Pulverizer was also equipped with Phase Shift armor. That would explain the lack of damage to the front of the machine's strange body.

With the weapon still aimed at the Pulverizer, Carlos brought his Cgue a few steps closer, his nerves stretched to the last as he expected something to happen any second. Fortunately nothing happened, the Pulverizer was lying completely motionless. Even the glowing lines had died down, making him believe that the Pulverizer was well and truly out of the action. Still, he couldn't bring himself to relax. A tiny voice in the back of his mind kept screaming at him, warning him of danger. Telling him that something was about to go seriously wrong. Then it happened, and everything fell apart.

A large object seemingly materialized out of thin air right next to the Pulverizer. A second later, its arrival was followed by a powerful shock-wave that sent sand flying everywhere, blinding most Mobile Suit pilots, including Carlos. When the sand fell back down to the ground and Carlos could see again, he found himself facing the new arrival. The machine looked very similar to the Pulverizer, they both shared various features. Large shoulders and legs, a Y-shaped profile and so on. Another thing Carlos noticed was the large muzzle of the gun the newcomer aimed at him as it stood protectively over the Pulverizer. A second later, the long barrel of a back mounted cannon unfolded over one shoulder and the covers of a rectangular missile launcher popped open behind the other. The gesture, clearly a warning, forced Carlos, along with a few other Mobile Suits to take a step back, their minds already working on how to deal with this threat. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to think long, because the situation changed once again.

A large number of new contacts suddenly appeared on ZAFT Mobile Suit radars. The contacts featured an Alliance IFF code, which meant they were enemies, but other than that, Carlos had no idea what they were. Whilst keeping one eye on the ginger yellow machine, he checked out what the sensor readings of the new contacts were telling him. _That's strange, they appear to be similar to … _"Shit! Form up, we've got inc…" He never got to finish his sentence because a thundering voice cut him off.

"TO BATTLE!" Gunnar Logan cried over the radio as well as the external speakers of his Mobile Suit as he led his ten Mobile Suit strong unit towards the ZAFT Mobile Suits. "KILL THEM ALL!" He added and opened fire with his Mobile Suit's beam rifle at the white Cgue. The Cgue raised its shield and took two shots on the armored plate; afterwards it started moving sideways, staying ahead of Gunnar's follow-up attacks.

Gunnar himself was forced to hide behind the shield when one of the Ginns opened fire at him. The machine gun rounds struck the shield like hammer blows, but unlike the ZAFT pilot, Gunnar didn't dodge. He gritted his teeth and continued forwards while snapping off quick potshots with the beam rifle whenever his teammates drew the enemy attention away from him, which, all things considered, was pretty often. It was plain to see that ZAFT forces were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of Alliance Mobile Suits. Their return fire was chaotic and their movements spoke of a great deal of confusion. Still, the element of surprise wasn't as big as Gunnar had expected. ZAFT Mobile Suits were quick to make a fighting withdrawal, using it as a chance to regroup and direct a proper counter fire. The key was not to let them achieve that. As long as they kept pressing their offensive, ZAFT forces would have difficulties getting organized.

Still peeking through the opening in his shield, Gunnar could not help hold back a nasty smirk. ZAFT had no chance of winning, as long as they kept playing to their strengths of his Mobile Suit's design. Gunnar, along with the majority of his team, were piloting Strike Daggers. The simplified, mass-produced version of the Strike Gundam had been selected as the mainstay weapon of Earth Alliance's brand new Mobile Suit Corps. Standing a little over eighteen meters tall and weighing at around fifty five tons, the Dagger was shorter and lighter than ZAFT Ginns. The difference in weight lied mostly in the amount of protection. Unlike Ginns, Daggers carried little armor on their bodies, preferring to remain more mobile. Instead, they carried large shields, enhanced with anti-beam coating. This allowed the pilots to focus less on dodging and more on shooting. The defensive capabilities of the Daggers were further increased by the head mounted 75mm multi-barrel CIWS. Another reason for the decreased weight was the type of weapons the Daggers used. Instead of heavy machine guns and swords, they carried beam rifles and beam sabers, which weighed a lot less and provided a much greater punch than the more traditional weapons.

In addition of the Strike Daggers Gunnar's team also had a trio of experimental Dagger versions. The version was called Strike Dagger HAWK (Heavy Anti-armor Weapons Kit) or simply Dagger Hawk. The Dagger Hawk traded speed and mobility for more armor and a heavier punch, thus increasing the weight by 14 tons. The shield was replaced in favor of heavy armor plates attached to the body, covering vital areas and providing excellent defense against munitions based weapons. For offense the Hawk Daggers carried a single beam saber, stored on the left hip, a pair of shoulder mounted heavy missile launchers, four tubes per launcher, the primary weapon, however, was a bulky 125mm anti-armor rifle. Held in both hands, the weapon was accurate and capable of long range fire without losing its armor penetrating capabilities. The drawback was that the weapon featured a relatively low rate of fire and was difficult to use in close range engagements against highly mobile opponents.

Gunnar saw one of the Ginns get hit in the right shoulder by the anti-armor rifle round. The shoulder was torn apart along with a sizable chunk of the torso as well. The right arm, still gripping the machine gun clanged to the ground, leaving the Ginn with only one arm, in which it held its sword. Two Dagger pilots, sensing an opportunity and overexcited by the momentum of the attack, charged towards the damaged ZAFT Mobile Suit with their beam sabers drawn, obviously expecting to cut the Ginn into pieces. Before Gunnar could warn them both Daggers were gunned down by a hail of machine gun fire. The demise of the very first Strike Dagger pilot casualties was instantly avenged by Gunnar, as he took out the damaged Ginn with a precise beam blast.

Even though the Alliance Mobile Suits were twice the number of ZAFT forces, the fight was more even than expected. Superior experience and skills counterbalancing bigger numbers and enthusiasm. At least to a certain degree, since it was the Alliance forces who were slowly pushing forward, forcing ZAFT Mobile Suits to withdraw further and further from the disabled Pulverizer as they slowly moved towards one end of the island. For a moment Gunnar wondered what would ZAFT do once they ran out of land. Most likely they would attack them in close combat and attempt to finish the fight in a brutal brawl, something Gunnar was actually looking forward to. Nothing could match a good, old-fashioned brawl.

His hopes were shattered when a pair of new combatants entered the arena. The Buster and Blitz dropped out of the skies, landing right between the Alliance and ZAFT forces. Before anyone could react, the Buster combined both of its weapons into a single one and fired two blasts from the anti-armor shotgun. Two Alliance Mobile Suits, closest to the Buster, were destroyed instantly. Several others suffered light damage, mostly because they had been shielded by their two comrades in front of them. The Buster wasn't done, it flipped the weapon around and fired a shot from the beam cannon, slicing apart one of the Dagger Hawks.

"There, looks like that slowed them down." Dearka lowered his combined weapon and fired off a missile salvo for good measure. None of the missiles damaged anything, the Alliance forces either took them on their shields or shot them down with their defensive weapons. Still, the attack slowed them down more than enough for Carlos and his team to reorganize. "You still in one piece?"

"Your assistance is appreciated, but not required. I and my pilots are more than enough to handle this tiny inconvenience." Carlos replied in a calm voice and fired off a short burst at an enemy Mobile Suit that looked like it had been about to fire at his brother. "Furthermore, I strongly advise you to pay attention. The enemy is not done yet."

"You're welcome." Dearka sighed, heavy on the sarcasm. That was his brother all right, no thanks, only admonishment and criticism. "And don't start lecturing me."

"I'll lecture you as often as required." Carlos said and began advancing towards the enemy, his pilots following close behind. "For now, all I ask is that you step aside and let us deal with the enemy. If you really want my gratitude, go secure the Alliance machine we disabled and secure anything valuable from the crashed one." Before Dearka could reply, Carlos cut the channel. He didn't need his little brother whining in his ear right now. Not when he had a battle to lead.

Dearka watched the Ginns, led by his brother's Cgue, rush past him and engage the Alliance forces in fierce combat. Now that they had regrouped and were properly focused on the task, it was the Alliance that looked to be in trouble. There was a reason why Carlos team was considered one of the best. They could cause damage even with damaged and partially disabled Mobile Suits. "Arrogant bastard." He whispered to himself, Dearka then looked at the Blitz. "As much as I hate to admit, he's right. We're not of much help here. Let's use the opportunity and secure the objective." With that said he ordered the Buster into a quick run and, with Nicol following him, headed to where the Dingo was crouching over the Pulverizer.

xxxxx

Jack closely examined the Pulverizer and gritted his teeth. Things were looking grim. The Pulverizer was a total write-off which meant that his paycheck was in jeopardy, which sucked. Hard. Few things felt as bad as failing the mission when it was almost over. He rolled the Pulverizer to its side, trying to come up with a loophole. No such luck, the contract had been made with the typical Utopian punctuality. That meant, no loopholes for him to exploit. Then again… He shifted the Pulverizer again. The contract did say to make sure that the machine reached Alaska without being destroyed and in one piece.

Jack glared at the leg and arm stumps for a while, carefully mulling things over. Technically, even with some of its limbs missing, the Pulverizer was still in one piece, although a smaller one, and there was no line where the term "damaged" ended and "destroyed" started. He squinted one eye and kept rolling the Pulverizer around; paying no attention to Daniel's screams that came from the barely functioning speakers. Daniel wasn't his problem, there was nothing mentioned about him in the contract, so Jack couldn't care less about the guy. He stopped moving the Pulverizer and poked it a few times with the muzzle of his machine gun. Perhaps he was stretching it, but he could still claim that the Pulverizer was only damaged, not destroyed, and still in one piece. Especially when he tilted his head to the left and narrowed his right eye a bit. "Yeah, that could work." He rubbed his chin. "All that remains if to find a place to stash this thing until the fight's over." He checked the jungle, but found the trees too spread out for his liking. Then he checked the ocean. "Hmm, if I dump the Pulverizer in the water I'm sure no one will find it … Including me. Damn. Decisions, decisions."

His train of thoughts was derailed when the Dingo picked up two incoming hostiles. The Buster and the Blitz. Both machines were heading towards him, which meant that a fight was inevitable. With a heavy sigh Jack ordered the Dingo to step over the Pulverizer and position itself in between it and the two ZAFT machines. Though both enemies were now in range of his weapons, Jack did not open fire. He hoped to avoid a fight, if possible, so he could take care of the Pulverizer. Instead he merely raised the machine gun and aimed it in the general direction of the enemy. "Hey, you fucks! I'm giving you one chance to get lost. Use it!" Unfortunately, his kind request fell on deaf ears.

Dearka frowned at the pathetic insult and dismissed it. He stopped the Buster and raised his weapons. At the same time he laid out his plan to Nicole. "Nicole, I'll try to draw his attention and pin him down. You try to get around him and take that guy out from the rear or flanks." It was a simple plan, but all good things were simple. They also had fewer things that could go wrong. Nicole voiced his agreement and a moment later disappeared from the view as he activated the Mirage Colloid. In order to prevent Jack from coming up with a counter, Dearka seized the initiative and opened up with all weapons.

Dearka was still pressing down the triggers when the Dingo moved out of the way. It did not jump or run away, instead the AC darted to the side, using the boosters to slide across the ground as if it was ice. Dearka tried to track the AC, but the Dingo was just too nimble and agile for him to land a hit. All beams and cannon rounds missed only by the smallest of margins, while missiles were destroyed by that fancy defensive system all ACs sported. Dearka ducked under a retaliatory burst and decided to kick things up a notch. He jumped up and to the right and connected his weapons in the anti-armor shotgun variation. If the Jack could evade separate shots, there was no way he could dodge a cloud of shaped charges.

Just as he took aim with the shotgun, Jack went on the offensive and charged the Buster. A high explosive shell roared past the Buster as Dearka was forced to take a desperate evasive maneuver and ruin his chance of nailing the Dingo. He landed back on the ground and found the Dingo right in his face. The AC fired the machine gun into the Buster's chest, staggering the Gundam and setting it up for the next attack. However, Dearka recovered faster than expected and used the combined weapon as an improvised club to smack the AC away form the Buster. Instead of cutting through the Buster's chest, the laser blade went right through the weapon, slicing the barrel in half and rendered the gun launcher part of the weapon inoperable. Dearka tried to hose down the Dingo with his CIWS, but the high explosive shells were like pebbles thrown against a steel plate. The Dingo didn't even pay attention to them. Instead, the AC adroitly circled around the Buster, seeking to impale the Gundam from the side or behind.

"Nicol! What the the hell are you doing! I'm in some serious shit here!" Dearka tried to keep the front of the Buster towards the enemy, but the Dingo was just too fast and agile. The Buster wasn't built for high mobility close quarters combat. It was as agile as a rhino with a missing leg. In desperation he tore off the damaged gun launcher from its assembly and hurled it at the Dingo, while having the Buster leap away from the AC, hoping to put some distance between them. He had little hope that the distraction would work, but that was all he got. As expected the Dingo swatted the destroyed weapon aside with its machine gun and darted towards the Buster a second later.

"Don't worry I got your back." Nicol's voice reached Dearka, just as the Gleiphnir rocket anchor appeared out of thin air and shot towards the Dingo's left side as Nicol tried to score some damage while Jack was distracted. As it soon turned out, Jack wasn't as nearly distracted as they thought. The AC half turned towards the incoming projectile and proceeded to cut it out of the air with a slash of the laser blade, splitting it in two. Both halves missed the Dingo as the machine jumped over them. "Oh, my." Nicol gasped when he saw his weapon quickly getting neutralized.

"Doesn't matter! Shoot him!" Dearka cried and opened fire. "Shoot him now!" He added and Blitz added it's firepower as well. It was then, as he watched the Dingo dodge and weave around their beams, that Dearka started having second thoughts about their chances of victory. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't hit the bastard. The AC was constantly slightly in front or behind, or above, or below the path of their fire. They weren't missing by a large margin, barely by a meter or so, but they were missing nonetheless. They were a bit too slow to keep up with the Dingo. Plainly the pilot was not your average pushover.

Another thing Dearka noticed was the complete lack of return fire. Jack appeared to be content with letting them shoot at him without any success, while he kept skating around the battlefield. It was strange. Despite having decent weapons and several chances of a clear shot at the Buster, the Dingo did not shoot. This lack of fire, led to Dearka and Nicol taking slightly longer time to aim. As a result, the margin of their misses decreased sharply. After a few seconds of desperate maneuvering in order to keep away from the AC, that, for some reason, seemed to be enjoy circling around the heavy Gundam at close range, Dearka finally managed to land a couple of hits. It wasn't much, just a pair of scorch marks, left by the closely passing beam, but it was a hit nonetheless.

Inspired by Dearka's success, Nicole decided to try and make a truly damaging shot. Still hidden underneath the Mirage Colloid, he took a careful aim and fired. He targeted the machine gun in the Dingo's hand, seeking to hit the magazine and cook off the ammunition. Unfortunately, his aim was a bit too short. The Dingo moved the weapon at the same moment he pulled the trigger. The errant beam blast did nothing more than scorch the sand behind the AC. Nicole tried to take another shot, but that was when the trap was sprung.

The task of having to constantly dodge the incoming beams had made Jack's forehead damp with sweat. Even though he had the advantage of high mobility and speed, those two guys were still making things difficult for him. It took one hell of an effort to dodge fire from two mobile sources, one of which was invisible. An ordinary pilot would have started taking hits very soon. Then again, this was not the first time he was shot at and he was not an ordinary pilot. None of the Ravens were. Him allowing the two Gundams to shoot at the Dingo was an elaborate baiting maneuver in order to locate the Blitz's location.

Once the Blitz's position was determined, Jack went on the offensive. He fired a missile salvo at the Buster in order to keep it busy and off his back for a moment. At the same time, he pointed the machine gun in the Blitz's general direction and opened fire in a wide arc, hosing down the beach in front of him. Large craters were blasted into the ground as round after round was fired in a blind attempt to locate the Blitz. Finally, after shooting almost twenty rounds, Jack struck gold, or rather a Gundam.

The Blitz dropped the Mirage Colloid and raised the shield barely in time to avoid taking a hit to the chest. That was all Jack needed. Still firing the machine gun, the Dingo charged at the Blitz, the laser blade ignited and ready. The Blitz's defense was scattered when the Dingo slammed its shoulder into the shield, forcing the Blitz to stagger away from the impact. Before Nicol could recover, Jack continued his attack with a laser blade thrust to the cockpit. However, since the Blitz was moving, the blade missed the intended target and struck the Blitz in the left armpit instead, partially disabling the limb by making it hard to move quickly.

Nicol replied by swinging the shield, along with its beam saber, in a horizontal slash, aiming to cleave the AC in half at the middle. However, the Dingo withdrew its blade arm and used the forearm to block the sweep. The weight advantage of the Blitz did force the AC a few meters to the side, but that meant little when the beam saber failed to reach the Dingo. The momentary advantage was quickly neutralized when the Dingo bodily slammed into the Blitz, almost gluing the two machines together. At this range there was nothing Nicole could do. The AC was too short for him to target it with the CIWS, the right arm of his Mobile Suit was neutralized by the Dingo's forearm pressing against the elbow joint and the left arm, which was already void of any weapons, was damaged as well. His only hope was Dearka who was already approaching the grappling machines. "Hold on, I'm coming to get ya!" Nicol heard his comrade's voice.

Any thoughts Nicole had were banished when the Dingo removed the left forearm from the Blitz's elbow joint in order to make another attack. Nicol tried to do the same thing, but he just wasn't fast enough. Close quarters combat wasn't really his forte. He was still trying to bring the arm into a position where he could use the arm mounted weapons to cause some damage when the Dingo struck. Several alarms blared at Nicole when the laser blade went clean through the Blitz's right armpit and came out through the top of the shoulder. A quick sawing motion almost severed the limb completely. "Agh, he got my other arm! I can't move it!" Nicol was on the verge of panic when he saw the beam saber flicker out.

Dearka tried to come up with a way to separate Nicol from Jack, but nothing came to mind. At least until he remembered about the missiles. "Hold on, this will hurt a little." He warned and fired the missiles at both machines. The hope was that the Blitz's PS armor would neutralize the missiles, whereas the Dingo would have to either move away or get hit. At the same time he also prepared his beam cannon, hoping to land a few shots when Jack tried to escape.

Jack picked the third option. He released the Blitz, but instead of running away, he used the Dingo's incredible agility to quickly circle around the Blitz, using it as a shield. Each and every single missile hit the Blitz. Though the missiles inflicted no damage, the combined force of explosions threw the Blitz backwards, right at the Dingo who was already waiting, the laser blade ignited and raised. With the Blitz in front of the Buster and Nicol disoriented by the explosions, the next move was Jack's. What followed next would haunt Dearka's nightmares for a long time.

When the laser blade punched through the cockpit in a quick in and out motion, the first thing Nicole felt wasn't pain. It was cold. A sensation of numbing cold spread through his body from his left hip where the very edge of the blade had nicked him. The nerves were vaporized so quickly they were unable to transfer the sensation of pain to the rest of his body. However, it only lasted for barely a second. Blood, turned into steam, scalded his intestines, genitals and large sections of surrounding flesh. That he did feel. Nicol screamed in the most intense pain he had ever felt. He instinctively clamped his hands to the wound and screamed even louder when the pressure only intensified the pain.

Mercifully Nicol didn't suffer for long. The pain was so immense that his body responded by shutting down, throwing him into unconsciousness. At that very moment the laser blade entered the cockpit again. This time the blade was moving sideways as Jack made a horizontal sweep with the Dingo's arm. Metal, rubber, plastic, synthetic materials, flesh, bone and blood, all were cut apart with barely any resistance. The laser blade swept entirely through the cockpit, cutting the unconscious Nicol fully in half and igniting any remains that weren't turned to instant charcoal and ash. By the time the blade exited the cockpit, Nicol Amalfi, the youngest member of Zala Team, was no more.

Dearka watched in horror as the Dingo made two, very quick, attacks with the laser blade. A thrust and a slash. Nicol's scream filled the Buster's cockpit and echoed in Dearka's mind long after the actual scream had died down, due to the Blitz's radio being destroyed. Dearka saw the black Gundam, still moving forward after the missile explosion, ram the Dingo and fall apart. The top part of the Gundam separated from the lower part and fell to the ground with a resounding clang, whereas the legs made a much quieter noise. Both halves sported glowing, molten edges where the absurdly hot blade had cut through the PS armor like it wasn't there. A brief moment later, the molten metal came into contact with various flammable materials and liquids inside the Mobile Suit, and soon the Blitz was on fire. Thick smoke raising from the wreck.

He also saw the Dingo step through the pillar of smoke and give him a smug look. Many people said the Mobile Suits were machines, mechanical constructs void of any character, soul or emotions, just like Armored Cores. Dearka thought differently. Even though the Dingo was unable to compose the required expression, the AC didn't have to. Dearka could feel the smugness of the pilot despite being unable to see him. It was like an aura that surrounded the Dingo as the ginger yellow machine stared at him.

However it wasn't over yet. Still maintaining the gaze with the Buster, the Dingo ignited the laser blade and slowly stabbed it into the Blitz's chest, lying at the AC's feet. The Dingo pushed the blade deeper and deeper, as if knowing that Dearka was observing the movement. Once the blade was deep enough, the Dingo twisted the blade before withdrawing and switching it off. Jack added further insult by making the Dingo kick the remains of the Blitz towards the Buster. The kick wasn't that strong, the chest moved only a few meters across the sand, but it was the gesture that counted.

With rage already boiling hot inside him by the need to avenge his comrade's death, the desecration was the last straw. Dearka simply snapped and charged the Dingo in blind anger, a furious scream of rage erupting from his chest, the beam cannon blazing as fast as it could recharge. The only thing Dearka could feel was hate and a single thought kept screaming inside his head. Jack was dead, he was so fucking dead!

xxxxx

The Archangel was safe, for now. The attacking ZAFT Mobile Suit force was no threat to it. Not after Kira had pounced on them like a lion on helpless sheep. Though they had put up a decent fight, the Ginns were no match for the Strike. The Gundam was simply too advanced and was immune to anything the Ginns could throw at him. Missiles had been shot down by precise, short bursts. Machine guns shells had exploded harmlessly against the Strike's armor. Sword attacks had been blocked by the Strike's shield. In response, devastating beam blasts had pierced the basic armor of the Ginns like it wasn't even there. The pink beam saber had effortlessly cut through the interposed swords in order to strike the target behind them. It hadn't been a fight, it had been a massacre. Almost...

Kira took a deep breath and looked at the last Ginn, the one wielding a pair of machine guns. Only one had survived from the initial squad of five. It was also the one Kira was having the most problems with. Whoever was piloting that machine was one hell of a pilot, Kira had to admit. The guy had used the Ginn's ineffective weaponry to great effect. Kira had lost count on how many times he had been forced to break off or change his course when a machine gun burst had threatened the Strike's exposed parts. Though Kira knew that he could ignore the Ginn's attacks and let the enemy pilot shoot at him ineffectually as he walked up to finish the fight, Kira was hesitant on giving the other guy a free shot at his Mobile Suit. Advanced armor or not, there was always the chance of a lucky hit or a malfunction. Better to play it safe.

He was still contemplating on what to do when Tolle's voice reached him. "Hey, Kira, need some help with that guy? I think I can do a strafing run from where I am."

"No need, Tolle. I can handle this on my own. Remember to keep an eye on the Archangel." Kira turned down the offer, slightly taken aback by the eagerness in his friend's voice. He had never heard Tolle so eagerly offering his help in a fight. He was always the guy who tried to avoid conflict whenever possible. It just wasn't like him to push into a fight. At least until now. Kira spared a quick glance at Tolle's most recent handiwork, a burning wreck of a Ginn. The pilot had been taken completely by surprise when the nimble Skygrasper had dived from the skies like a hunting eagle, beam blasts and cannon fire raining down upon the target. A two missile salvo had also crippled another Ginn, making it extremely easy for Kira to finish the damaged machine off. Once the damage had been done, the Skygrasper had soared in the skies again, well before anyone could fully react to the sudden intervention.

"Understood, Kira. Good luck." Kira could have sworn his friend sounded a bit discontent. Something to check up on once the battle was over. "I'll go back to the Archangel and check out..." Tolle's voice died down suddenly when his Skygrasper picked up several new hostile contacts. "Oh shit! Watch out!"

The Strike beeped at Kira barely a second later, informing him that the Duel, the Aegis and the Romeo were approaching his location with as much speed as they could muster. In Romeo's case it was noticeably faster than that of the other two machines, as a result, by the time Kira turned the Strike to meet the new foes, the Romeo was almost on top of him.

Kira barely managed to raise the shield in time to prevent Juliet from cutting the Strike in half with the twin laser cannon. The high heat spike as well as the movement of the weapon being the only warnings Kira could discern before two red laser beams shot towards him with the speed of light, making them impossible to notice, much less dodge. As they crossed the distance instantaneously. The anti-beam coating on the shield struggled to prevent the laser beams from cutting through. It was only because the laser beams were moving across the surface, rather than focusing on a single point, that prevented the actual shield taking serious damage. As a result, a pair of black, closely parallel lines were scorched into the face of the shield. When Kira attempted to retaliate with the beam rifle, he came under fire from the Aegis and the Duel who had also close enough to do something productive.

The fire exchange lasted only a few seconds, and soon Yzak and Athrun switched over to close combat weapons, in order to finish the fight in their preferred combat range. Yzak went on the offensive, sticking close to the Strike and putting it under constant pressure as he made quick thrusts to the exposed parts of the Strike while pushing the white Gundam backwards. Athrun took a less aggressive approach and either tried to circle around the Strike in order to attack from behind, or attempted to create or exploit any openings for Yzak to use. Juliet remained at range and continued to fire at the Strike. Not as much as to cause damage, but more to cut off any paths of retreat.

Kira parried the Duel's thrust with his own beam saber and blocked the beam blades from Athrun, aimed at the Strike's head. However, in doing so, he was forced to take two shots from the Romeo's carbine to the back, forcing the Strike to stumble lightly. He jumped backwards just in time to avoid a shield slam from the Duel and fainted a quick thrust with his beam saber in order to make Athrun back off. The faint worked and Kira gained just enough time to make a real thrust at Yzak, aiming for the Duel's exposed ankles. However Yzak was quick to recover and swatted the beam saber away with his own, guiding it past the Duel's leg and into the ground. A second later Kira was forced to duck under a decapitating sweep from Athrun. With the Strike on one knee, Kira hurled it forward and, with the shield in front, slammed it directly into the Duel. He then quickly retreated a few steps, putting some distance between him and Athrun. Kira noticed the single Ginn standing some distance away, observing the fight, and felt slightly relieved that the olive green Mabile Suit was not participating, for now. He already had more than enough to worry about.

"Gah." Yzak growled when the Duel was knocked backwards from the powerful blow. The force of the blow was so strong, the Duel ended up lying with its back in the sand. Gritting his teeth so hard they almost cracked, Yzak brought the Duel back up more quickly than necessary, expecting to come under attack in any moment. Fortunately for him, the Strike was too hard pressed just to stay alive for its pilot to capitalize on the Duel's vulnerability. "Keep the pressure on him! I'm coming!" Yzak said when he saw the Aegis fighting against the Strike.

"I'm trying, but he's putting up a hell of a fight." Athrun replied through gritted teeth as he jumped the Aegis over a low sweep that would have taken his legs clean off at the ankles. As soon as he was on the ground again, he used one of his Gundam's legs to kick off and drive a solid knee into the Strike's shield. "Juliet! Where are you?" He stabbed with his beam blades at the recovering Strike's upper chest, but Kira managed to spin out of the way. Athrun was only partially aware of the fact that he was fighting against Kira without really holding back and judging from the way Kira was attacking, he wasn't holding back either. Though Athrun desperately hoped to finish the fight without killing Kira, he wasn't sure he could do that. In the current situation holding himself back in order to make disabling attacks was a good way to lose the fight, perhaps even his life as well. As a result, Athrun made doubly sure not to pull his punches, hoping that sooner or later he would get a clear chance to make a decision.

Juliet's response came in the form of several laser beams that shot out of the skies where the Romeo was momentarily hovering above the battlefield. The beams clipped off the right wings from the Stricker Pack and nearly took off the right arm as well. Only a quick turn of the shoulders prevented the limb from getting damaged. However, in doing so, the Strike's right side was left exposed to Athrun's attack. Even though Kira tried to parry the overhead slash from the Aegis with his beam saber, the angle of the attack made it all but impossible.

The yellow beam saber bit deep into the Stricker Pack, cutting through the PS armor like tissue paper. Though the Strike itself was undamaged, the Stricker Pack was destroyed, cut off the Gundam's back. Alarms blared at Kira, informing him of the loss of his ability to fly, as well as mobility. Kira quickly silenced the alarms, but the fact remained. For all intents and purposes, the Strike was grounded. Despite being damaged, he went on the offensive and brought down the Strike's arm in a quick slash. The attack was too sudden for Athrun to counter and, as a result, the Aegis lost its right arm, cut off at the middle of the forearm, right where the beam blade was mounted. This brought some comfort to Kira, at least he made Athrun pay for what he had done.

The sanctification waned quickly when the Aegis pulled back, only to have the Duel replace it, who wasted little time in once again forcing Kira on the defensive, as he slashed and thrust at Kira's defenses. Though Kira did manage to score a few hits with his beam saber, they were only glancing ones, damaging only the additional armor plates the Duel had, not the Gundam itself. The lack of the Striker Pack mean that his mobility was seriously impeded, and when that mobility had been the only advantage over his enemies, it was only a matter of time before one of his attackers landed another devastating blow. Suddenly Kira realized that this was not a battle he could win, especially when the Romeo dropped out of the skies, ready to prevent Kira from escaping. Not like he was now, and not against these opponents. In desperation, Kira tried to focus his mind inward, so that he could once again summon that incredible power in order to gain the advantage.

All attempts to focus were scattered to all winds when he heard Tolle's voice over the radio. "Kira! Watch out! I'm coming to help you!"

"Wha... Tolle?" Kira gaped at the radio in slight confusion of the unexpected aid. "Wait! Don't!"

"Kira! Get out away from them!" Just like before, the Skygrasper's entry caught everyone off guard, including Kira. The heavily armed fighter plane blitzed down from the skies in a lightning fast strafing run, spitting fire from it's beam cannon at the enemy Mobile Suits as fast as it could cycle. One beam blast drilled through the Aegis's right shoulder. Two more ruined its transforming mechanism as it tried to move out of the way, making the Aegis unable to switch to Mobile Armor mode. The next burst of fire was aimed at the Duel and succeeded in melting off the left side of the Gundam's head, destroying the missile launcher on its left shoulder, and pretty much rendered all the additional armor on the left shoulder and arm useless. The Romeo and the last Ginn, being furthest away from the melee fight, didn't receive any hits. Mainly because they had enough time to notice the attach and take evasive maneuvers, and because Tolle had to pull out of his strafing run before hey managed to fire back effectively.

Kira's heart jumped into his throat when he saw the Romeo launch several missiles at the Skygrasper as it pulled out from its strafing run and was at its most vulnerable. The missiles were quick to cover the distance between the Romeo and the retreating Skygrasper, there was no way Tolle could dodge them. Kira opened his mouth to scream some kind of warning, but was cut short when the Skygrasper seemingly exploded, thick trails of smoke shooting downwards from the fighter plane where small, glowing objects fell down. _Flares._ A single thought formed inside his mind, filling him with relief. He saw the six missiles change their trajectories and pursue the decoys, allowing the Skygrasper to escape. However, in doing so, Tolle forced Juliet to switch tactics. Though rapidly moving away from the AC, the Skygrasper was still in the Romeo's range, at least for a few more seconds.

Despite being under renewed attack from the Aegis and the Duel, Kira saw everything with crystal clarity, as if fate provided him with the best possible view. With its missiles neutralized the Romeo raised its laser carbine and took a quick aim at the Skygrasper. Half a second later, a flash of heat on the Strike's thermal sensors heralded the firing. A thin laser beam came into existence, flashing forth from the muzzle with unimaginable speed. The beam lasted only for a second or so, but it was more than enough for Juliet to correct her aim and make sure the laser beam connected with the target.

Tolle never knew what hit him. The laser beam struck like lightning, cutting into his Skygrasper's nose during a steep, vertical climb. Unlike most combat vehicles, aircraft had very little, if any, armor. Fighter planes relied on speed and their countermeasures for defense, not armor. As a result, the laser beam met hardly any resistance as it sliced the Skygrasper in half, lengthwise. By the time Tolle's eyes could notice the bright flash, he was already immolated by the beam during its path through the cockpit. The cut was so clean and quick, the Skygrasper actually continued its path upwards for a few meters, before both halves slowly parted from each other. As the air resistance slipped in between them. Just as the air resistance and gravity were about to completely stop the Skygrasper and pull it down to ground, the aircraft's battery went off in a violent explosion. The remains of the plane were instantly turned into a massive fireball. The explosion was just one of many that blossomed in the skies that day, but to Kira it was a whole different matter.

Tolle was dead. The thought kept repeating inside his mind. His friend had been killed right in front of his eyes after saving Kira's life. Someone he had known for a long time was dead. Kira was dry-heaving as the realization of Tolle's death sunk in. His mind was blank, numb. His entire body was numb. He couldn't feel anything at all, as if his body belonged to someone else and all of this was just a horrible dream. Unfortunately, no matter how much he desired it, this was no dream. This was reality. Tolle was indeed dead with only a dying fireball left in his place.

The flash of a beam saber on his main display brought Kira out of his momentary shock. Just because Tolle was dead, didn't mean the battle was over. His enemies were still coming at him. Still eager to kill him like they had killed Tolle. That last realization, completely shattered the near-trance state he was in, and returned all sensation to his body. Kira felt more than his body, however, the thing he also felt was anger. Intense, white-hot anger that filled his entire mind, body and soul. It was anger unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was anger that could be only sated by blood. Blood of those who had killed his friend.

The entire world seemed to come to a halt, as his anger sunk deep into his body and took the form of the purple jewel he had seen before. The jewel did not remain whole for long, it took only a fraction of a second for it to burst apart with the force of a hundred nuclear bombs, banishing any thoughts, leaving only the desire to destroy the one responsible for Tolle's death. Kira felt his hands tighten around the controls, as if anger itself was moving his body, urging him to act. Kira set his eyes on the Romeo and spoke in a low, absolutely vicious voice. "That was the stupidest thing you've ever done, you bitch."

The Duel was still in the process of thrusting the beam saber at Kira's Mobile Suit when the Strike burst into action, charging the Duel with near blinding speed. Kira guided the Duel's beam saber up and over the Strike's right shoulder as he crouched down and spun around, sweeping the Duel's legs out from underneath it with a blow of the shield. Caught completely off guard by the sudden movements of his enemy, Yzak's mind was barely in the process of registering the fact that his Gundam was falling when Kira was already rising up from the crouch, beam saber ready for the next blow. Even in mid-fall Yzak tried to come up with something, but the Strike was moving too fast for him to follow. Kira rammed the beam saber into the Duel's upper chest, piercing the Mobile Suit completely and withdrawing the weapon before the Duel even hit the ground.

With his mind already processing his next engagement with Athrun, Kira's execution of the Duel was simple and quick. A slash to the cockpit region opened it to the outer world for the second time of the Duel's existence. The follow-up strike took the form of the Strike's foot coming squarely down on the partially exposed cockpit, as Kira stepped over the downed foe in order to get to Athrun. Though the PS armor prevented the cockpit from getting crushed like a tin can, the opening was big enough for drops of molten metal and razor sharp fragments rain down into the cockpit.

Athrun fared slightly better than Yzak, despite being caught off guard as well. He managed to deflect the beam saber thrust to the Aegis's head, but he had no way to prevent the Strike from slamming into his Gundam. Using the shield as a battering ram, Kira sent the Aegis stumbling backwards. To his credit, Athrun recovered quickly, but not quickly enough. By the time he regained balance Kira was already attacking. The beam saber bit deep into the area between the left shoulder and Aegis's head, almost severing the limb completely and causing it to lose all power as the power cables were cut. Athrun used the stump of the right arm to push the Strike away, but the attack was born out of desperation rather than any plan. Before the stump could connect with the Strike, Kira pulled out the beam saber and swatted the Aegis's arm away with the Strike's forearm. At the same time he delivered a heavy blow to the Aegis's side with his shield. With the Aegis damaged and Athrun disoriented by the blow, Kira was free to land his next attack. The top of the Aegis was sliced clean off its body as Kira cut the Mobile Suit apart at the chest level, removing both arms in the process. He followed through with the attack and came back again. This time he aimed low and took off both of the Aegis's legs at mid thigh.

It was only because of his friendship with Athrun why Kira refrained from attacking the cockpit directly. Despite his anger and thirst for revenge, Kira knew that Athrun could not be blamed for Tolle's death. That was the only mercy he was willing to extend. Still, Athrun was fighting against him, alongside the killer of Tolle, therefore he had to be taken out. And if Athrun were to die inside his Mobile Suit … well, Kira's mercy went only so far right now. With the Aegis removed, there were only two enemies left. The last Ginn and the … Kira instantly dismissed the Ginn when his eyes fell on the white AC. The Ginn was not a threat to him. He would deal with it after he had set the Romeo on fire and killed Juliet.

Even if Juliet was intimidated by the sudden loss of two comrades, she did not show it. The Romeo raised both weapons and opened fire at the Strike while circling around it. As it turned out, that was exactly what Kira needed. Once the Romeo had started moving in one direction, Kira decided to risk it. He needed to distract or disorient Juliet long enough for him to reach her, so that she couldn't use the Romeo's superior speed to get away. The distraction took the form of the Strike's shield, thrown like a discus at the Romeo. At the same moment he released the shield Kira made the Strike run towards the AC at full speed. As he ran, he transferred the beam saber to the left hand and pulled out the beam rifle, and snapped off several potshots at the Ginn so that the ZAFT pilot wouldn't get any funny ideas.

Kira's gamble paid off only partially. The shield did not strike the Romeo as he had intended. Juliet's reaction was more than quick enough for her to easily shoot the shield with her 88mm carbine and knock it off course. Regardless, the slight distraction was enough for Kira to cross the distance. Ignoring the faint beeping sound from his computer, Kira lashed out with the beam saber at the Romeo's core, hoping to impale the pilot with the weapon. At the same time he fired the beam rifle at the laser cannon behind the right shoulder. He had to take out the most dangerous weapon in case he failed to kill the pilot. As it soon turned out, his attempt indeed ended up in failure.

The Romeo's right hand suddenly shot up and brought the laser carbine into the path of the beam saber. As soon as the pink blade cut into the weapon, Juliet yanked that arm to the side, guiding the beam saber past the Romeo. Though she was able to avoid the blow with the beam saber, Juliet couldn't prevent the laser cannon from being destroyed. Still, that did not keep her from retaliating. Moving with the same speed Kira was displaying in his Seed mode, Juliet dropped the damaged weapon and grabbed the beam saber's hilt. In order for the pilot to be able to quickly transfer the beam saber from one hand to another, the hilt of the weapon was slightly longer than necessary for single hand use, this left enough room for the Romeo to grab it.

With half of the beam saber's hilt in hand, Juliet bent and twisted it with all the power the Romeo could muster. At the same time she raised the carbine and started firing at the beam rifle, hoping to destroy the ranged weapon as well. The beam saber sputtered and died when the bottom part of the hilt was snapped off, leaving a short, useless piece of metal in the Strike's hand. The beam rifle also was rendered inoperable when two rounds blew off the barrel of the weapon.

Caught by surprise by the unexpected speed of his opponent, Kira was a bit too slow to prevent the loss of his weapons. By the time he pulled back the Strike's hands, the weapons were already destroyed. Still, that was not enough to stop him. He was still combat capable. He quickly dropped the disabled weapons and reached for the hips, where the Armor Schneider knives were located. It was surprising, actually, how quickly he could adapt to the changes in combat. In the state his mind was currently in, solutions seemed to be springing forth in an endless torrent. It was only a matter of time until he won.

With both knives in hand Kira wasted little time and went on the offensive again. He got lucky. Both knives slipped past Juliet's defenses and sunk into both sides of the core. Disturbed by the amount of resistance the knives encountered, Kira dismissed any hopes of killing the pilot with this attack. Instead, he improvised. Using the knives as improvised handles, he lifted the AC in the air, turned, and slammed the twenty four ton machine into the ground. Though the move resulted in him falling down as well, Kira was not troubled. He had expected that. With the Romeo trapped underneath the Strike, there was nowhere Juliet could run. And since she had lost the carbine during the fall, she had no way to defend herself. Bringing the Strike up, so that the Gundam was straddling the Romeo, Kira glared at the AC and then started his attack.

He pulled out the knives and started thrusting them into the Romeo's core. The armor was tough, and many blows failed to penetrate it, skidding off the armor instead. However, there were also a lot of thrusts that punched through the armor as well. Large holes appeared in the Romeo's core as Kira continued his assault. The Romeo tried to squirm free, but the Strike's weight as well as the fact that both knees were pinning the Romeo's forearm's to the ground, made all efforts fruitless. There was not enough leverage to push the Strike off. All Juliet could do was to await her death. Death, which came closer with every time the Strike rammed one of its knives deeper into the core, twisting them, widening the holes so that the next strike would reach deeper.

Kira's thirst for vengeance was denied when a hail of machine gun rounds slammed into the Strike's chest, almost blowing it off the Romeo. Kira needed only a fraction of a second to realize that he had made a mistake by dismissing the Ginn as a non-threat. Though the machine guns were not capable of damaging the Strike, the force of the impact, especially combined impacts, was enough to interrupt his actions. The Ginn was standing next to the Aegis, and firing round after round at the Strike, chipping away at the nearly empty battery and preventing Kira from finishing off the Romeo's pilot.

Angered by the sudden interruption, Kira hurled one of the knives at the Ginn. Though it was a very hard thing to do, Kira realized that while in Seed mode, throwing a knife with a high degree of accuracy was almost as easy as breathing. He almost made the mistake of throwing both knives, but at the last moment he realized that he would need one of the to take care of Juliet. He hoped that one knife would be enough to take out the Ginn.

His hopes were not in vain. The knife impacted the Ginn right in its camera eye, destroying all of the sophisticated sensors located in the head, as it sunk in almost entirely. The blinded Ginn staggered and fell down when it tripped over the Aegis. Though the Mobile Suit was still working, Kira felt he had bought himself more than enough time. He returned his attention to the Romeo, only to find out that the movements of the Strike, caused by the impacts from the machine gun round, had moved it enough for the Romeo to free its left forearm.

The Strike's right arm, along with the shoulder and half of the head, were sliced off by the laser blade. Juliet quickly recovered and was about to cleave the Strike in half when Kira retaliated with the knife. The bladed weapon struck deep into one of the largest holes in the Romeo's side. And this time, the attack drew blood. Juliet's blood.

The girl threw up her arms in front of her face when the knife entered the cockpit. Almost instantly she felt intense pain shoot throughout her body as the blade of the knife cut open her right side from just under her right breast, all the way down to her right hip, almost severing her leg. Juliet screamed in pain, only to have her screams become louder when her right forearm got broken by the tip of the knife on its way out.

Her suit's computer detected the loss of suit's integrity and instantly dispensed medical gel to the affected area from strategically placed dispensers in an attempt to seal off the breach and provide any possible aid. However, there was simply too much damage for the limited emergency systems to handle. Juliet was badly bleeding from a huge gash in her side, suffering from broken ribs and arm, as well as numerous tiny cuts and bruises the knife had created on its way in and out. The last thing Juliet felt before unconsciousness claimed her, was a strong impact that rattled her AC.

Kira pulled out the knife and prepared to deliver the final blow. He knew that he had struck the pilot with that last one, her scream was still echoing in his ears. And though it pained him to hear a girl screaming like that, the pain of losing Tolle was much greater. Just one more strike and Tolle's death would be avenged.

A strong impact blew the Strike right off the Romeo and onto its back. For the second time that day, Kira was denied his kill. Numerous alarms blared at him, but he ignored them, as he made the Strike sit up. Now was not the time to listen to status reports. Not when he... His train of thoughts was derailed when everything around him died. All, but the most basic systems shut down completely. It was only then Kira remembered about the beeping he'd been hearing and ignoring for some while. He looked down and saw what he already knew. The battery was empty, the last reserves of power drained by that last impact.

"I'll kill you! I'll fuckin' kill you!" A silent voice, filled with murderous rage and choked back pain, came from the radio. "I'll kill you for making her scream like that, you damned motherfucker!" Kira glanced at the still functioning main display and gasped. The pilot of the Duel was not dead. Not only that, but the pilot seemed to be coherent enough to operate the Duel, at least to a certain degree. The Duel was resting on it's elbow and facing him. So was the railgun on the Duel's shoulder. "AAAAGHH! DIE!" The Duel's pilot bellowed and fired the railgun at the Strike.

Kira had no chance of dodging the shot. The Strike had no power to move and the railgun slug was moving too fast for Kira to see, much less dodge. The slug hit the Strike squarely where the center of the collarbone in a human would be located. The hole, the slug made was relatively small, but that was compensated for by the damage done to the internals. Each and every system inside the chest was either destroyed or heavily damaged when the small explosive charge inside the slug went off. Though not particularly strong, as warhead explosive charges went, the explosion was strong enough to rip off the remains of the Strike's head and fully disable the left arm through internal damage. The battery as well as the main computer were also heavily damaged and rendered useless. A fair amount of kinetic energy was transferred to the cockpit and into the pilot, who was now trapped inside a completely disabled machine.

xxxxx

"This is Commander Elsman to all ZAFT and Oceania Union forces in the area. The battle is lost. We cannot win this fight. I'm ordering all ZAFT and Oceania Union forces to withdraw from the area. I say again. This battle is lost, all units fall back." The voice of Commander Elsman filled the cockpit of Akira's Ginn as he brought his Mobile Suit back up. The backup cameras had taken some time to come online. There was probably something messed up somewhere in the system. Akira filed that away. Right now he had more important matters at hand. He had to figure out how to deal with the mess in front of him.

The Aegis, the Duel and the Romeo were out of action and were little more than sitting ducks. Hell, even a single infantryman would be capable of dealing with these machines in the state the were now. Akira checked the vitals of the pilots and frowned. According to the readings, two pilots were badly injured and needed help as soon as possible. The pilot of the Romeo was in an especially bad shape, her readings came in almost nonexistent and were about to flatline. They needed help.

Akira looked around and his frown grew even deeper. The Archangel had managed to deal with the airborne attackers and was wrecking havoc among its opponents. It also seemed to be slowly moving towards the island Akira was on. No doubt to recover their pilot.

On the edges of his sensors Akira could see Oceanians, along with the surviving amphibious Mobile Suits, making a full retreat. Several landing craft were already racing back towards the small group of transport ships waiting for them. Overhead, more and more aircraft from the Eurasian carrier were rushing towards the ZAFT and Oceanian vessels, eager not to let anyone escape this area alive.

"Damn. This is certainly not my day." Akira muttered and keyed the radio. "Commander Elsman, this is Akira Nishikama. I need assistance in extracting allied forces. I got three badly damaged Mobile Suits along with their pilots. Two of them are in critical condition and are in need of immediate help." His eyes then fell on the Strike. "Make it three pilots, along with their Mobile Suits and a POW."


	31. Friends, Allies, Enemies

"Sir, the enemy seems to be withdrawing from the area. They're pulling back their landing parties and their surviving Mobile Suits are disengaging from all encounters and are focusing on covering and escorting their allied forces." One of the members of the bridge crew reported. "I'm also getting reports on Eurasian aircraft pursuing the enemy, albeit in a limited fashion. Most likely to make sure the enemy is retreating for real and to discourage them from attacking again." The young Ensign finished her report and returned to her duties after a brief nod from the Captain. However, though the report was meant to Captain Diecon, the commanding officer of the Stormchaser, it was William who was in charge of all four Atlantic Federation ships in the area and actually called the shots.

"Excellent. Captain, order your crew to cease pursuing the enemy force and disengage. Then, change the course towards that large island in the middle of that cluster we passed and tell others to head there as well. I want all four ships to rendezvous at the destination as soon as possible." William clasped his hands behind his back as he spoke. He made a slight effort to make his voice sound less imposing than usual, since it would be very bad for the crew if he treated their Captain like an inferior being. He knew how it felt to have someone who had the same rank as you did order you around.

Captain Diecon gave the orders to his crew, and also had them relayed to the other three ships as well. He then cast a wishful gaze at the retreating enemy. "Captain Sutherland. Are you sure it's wise to let them leave? In their current state they not really a threat to our ships. We could probably sink a ship or two without any effort."

William traced his gaze and couldn't help to agree. The ravaged remains of the enemy fleet were a pitiful sight. Almost every combat vessel was damaged to some degree. Some of them looked to be struggling to stay above the water. Especially those that had been attacked by the two Stormchaser class frigates. Beam weapons were too effective against regular armor, which meant they could inflict horrific damage in case they pursued the enemy. "They are a tempting target, I agree. But our mission here is not to destroy the enemy. In addition there's no telling what tricks they might have up their sleeve, so I'd rather not risk it. Remember, we're here for a different purpose." Captain Diecon pursed his lips and nodded slowly, as he listened to William's reply and eventually dismissed his bold plan. William gave the Captain a short, evaluating look. Captain Diecon was not the best person he preferred to work with. The man was a bit too bloodthirsty for William's tastes. However, he was also very loyal to Blue Cosmos and knew when to be quiet and listen. A useful man.

William then quickly took in as much detail of the battlefield as he could see and a small smile settled on his lips. The battle was over. They had won, there were no doubts about it. As soon as the Archangel had fought off the last of its aerial attackers and was free to engage the enemy ships, the commander of the opposing force had called for an immediate withdrawal. Obviously whoever was in charge of the ZAFT-Oceanian forces in the area, knew how dangerous it was to oppose the Archangel with a couple of damaged ships. It was basically suicide, because there wasn't a sea-faring ship in existence that could go head-to-head with the Archangel and emerge victorious. At least not for some time. And that was before one considered the unexpected arrival of two Atlantic Federation frigates, armed with the devastating beam weaponry.

With the battle decided and the enemy retreating, William had half expected to see Eurasians abandon everything and pursue the enemy in order to wipe them out completely. However, as already mentioned, that did not happen. Eurasian forces seemed to have had enough and were too tired to pursue. In fact, a closer inspection of Eurasian comm traffic as well as radar readings revealed that Eurasians had been almost defeated as well. Most of their defensive positions had been hit hard. Very hard, and had resulted in heavy losses for the defenders, despite the fact that they had the Archangel's pilots aiding them. There was only so much they could do. At sea, the situation was pretty much the same. Most of the warships had been destroyed, leaving only eight survivors of the previous nineteen ships strong formation. Out of those eight, only four were undamaged, those being the aircraft carrier and its two cruiser escorts, as well as one of the transport ships. The remaining ones sported various amounts of damage, varying from light, almost cosmetic, damage to barely able to remain floating. All in all, the Eurasian force looked more like a band of survivors after a lost battle rather than victors. _What was the term for this? When the cost of victory makes it moot. _William idly mused in his mind. _A Pyrrhic victory? _Yes, that was the term. A Pyrrhic victory. Eurasians had lost almost everything in order to defeat their enemies; as a result they were practically useless as a fighting force. Something which concurred perfectly with his plan. Having a fresh fighting force behind his back would be a hell of a trump card when it came to negotiations. However, before he could deal with the main reason he was here, there was one more thing to take care of. A little test.

"Please connect me with the Archangel, I need to have a few words with Captain Ramius." William said and fixed his gaze on the main monitor where the video feed of the transmission would be displayed. He didn't have to wait for long, only after a few seconds the screen switched over to the communications channel and showed the image of the Archangel's Captain. Murrue Ramius was certainly a fine woman, William noted privately as he locked her gaze with his own. However, she also looked to be deeply troubled by something William could not instantly identify. Oh well, it wasn't like it mattered. "Captain Ramius, I am Captain William Sutherland, the officer in charge of the Atlantic Federation forces in the area. I would like to congratulate you on the victory you helped achieve here. Without your aid, our allies would have had a much harder fight on their hands."

"Thank you." Though her face and voice betrayed nothing, her eyes did, the moment she spoke, William was certain that Murrue was truly troubled by something. Hell, she seemed to be barely holding herself together. "But I can hardly take all the credit for this victory. It is thanks to our combined effort that we managed to win." She paused, obviously struggling with herself as if trying to hold something inside. Eventually she gave in. "Captain Sutherland, I'm afraid we have a serious problem on our hands."

"And what might that be?"

"During the battle our Mobile Suit pilot, Kira Yamato, was captured by enemy forces. We tried to intervene, but were ultimately unable to prevent the enemy from taking him, along with the Strike Gundam to their fleet. If possible I would like to ask for your..." William cut her off the moment he realized what she was trying to say.

"Assistance in a rescue operation?" Her eyes told him the answer. "I'm afraid that is not possible. We don't have nearly enough forces for this task. Even if we enlisted the help of our Eurasian allies, it would be too much of a risk." Even while he talked, his mind was already crunching the data and considering the various possibilities. The loss of the Strike Gundam was regrettable, but the more he thought about it, the less devastating the loss appeared. The Alliance was already producing their own Mobile Suits, so it wasn't like the Strike was very important. Even the lost combat data would eventually be replaced by other pilots as the war dragged on. Furthermore, getting rid of that Patchworker kid was a good thing, as far as William was concerned. All in all not that bad a thing. Of course he could hardly speak his mind to the Archangel's Captain. She wouldn't understand. Therefore William tried his best to look sympathetic. "Face it, Captain Ramius, Lieutenant Kira Yamato is gone and there is nothing we can do about it. It hurts, I understand, but some losses are inevitable." He finished in a tone that brooked no further arguments. For a while it looked like Murrue would object regardless of the subtle warning, but eventually she gave in, for now. Though William was certain Murrue had a lot to say about the situation, he didn't pay any attention to it. All that mattered was that Murrue remained quiet and did as she was told. Everything else meant nothing to him.

"Now, another reason I called you is to ask you about the identity of the officer in charge of Eurasian forces. I believe you've met him, correct?"

"Yes." Murrue's voice was flat and emotionless. "The person in charge is Rear Admiral Sergei Groskoev."

_Shit!_ William cursed, though he managed to keep his calm expression. _Clever move, ya bastards. That nationalist is certain to make things hard for me. Oh well, it's not like I expected this to be easy. _"I see. Rear Admiral Groskoev. He is aboard his carrier, correct?"

"Yes, but I don't think he'll stay there for long. I think he'll return to the island in order to personally oversee the salvage operation of the crashed AC."

"Yeah, I'm sure he will. He is that kind of person who doesn't seem to trust his subordinates. Always trying to see things with his own eyes before reporting back to his superiors." William said mostly to himself. He startled a bit when he realized he was speaking loud enough for Murrue to hear him, he quickly cleared his throat in order to clear his mind and change the topic. "One more thing. I will be leaving shortly to speak with the Rear Admiral, and I would appreciate if you joined me at the Eurasian command post."

Murrue frowned, clearly surprised by the sudden and unexpected invite. It took her several seconds in order to regain her voice, the expression on her face made her look cute, in a way, William noted with a short smile. "Join you? Why? I see no reason for me to be there. Especially if you have things to discuss with him. I'd just be in the way. Besides, I have a lot of other things to attend to."

"Nonsense, Murrue. I am certain your subordinates are competent enough to take care of your ship without your presence. Like I said, I'd appreciate if you joined me at the command post within an hour." William said with a smile. However, this time he sure to tone his voice with a certain degree of authority. It was a well-known fact among the Alliance officers that William Sutherland possessed a fair amount of subtle authority. His ties with Blue Cosmos, as well as the Alliance's High Command, made it very clear to everyone, that when William spoke, his voice was often that of the much powerful men behind him. He was the messenger of their will and their power. Opposing him meant opposing people with great influence in their possession. That's why even Admirals and Generals tended to listen to what this "mere" Captain had to say. William had to count to six in his mind until Murrue realized what most others knew. One did not disagree or refuse Captain William Sutherland. At least no one who wanted to retain the rank they held at that moment. William watched with slight satisfaction as Murrue's defenses crumpled when the realization dawned upon her. _That's right. You don't get to say "no", sweetheart. I wasn't asking, I was telling._

"I understand." Murrue said in a defeated tone, not being able to look him in the eyes. "I'll be there in an hour." She said and cut the transmission. A small act of rebellion, but William let it slide. As long as she did what was asked, William couldn't care less of what she did.

xxxxx

"FUCK!" Mu cried and hurled the helmet against the side of his Skygrasper's hull. The helmet bounced off the surface and rolled back towards him. "FUCKING SHIT!" Mu kicked the helmet as hard as he could, sending it flying across the Archangel's hangar for several meters and eventually impacting the wall. The helmet's visor cracked as a result, but Mu couldn't care less about it. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." He said through gritted teeth and collapsed on his knees, his clenched fists pounding the floor. Sharp pain shot up his arms, but Mu ignored the pain and kept hitting the floor again and again, whilst fighting down a savage howl of anger and sadness. He let out another series of curses and pounded the floor a few more times, before he sat up and rested his back against one of the Skygrasper's undercarriage wheels.

Mu sighed in desperation as he tried to contemplate the situation. Unfortunately there wasn't much to think about. Everything was as clear as day. Tolle was dead and Kira was captured. He tried to think of what he should have done differently. What he should have done in order to change the outcome. Unfortunately he was merely deluding himself. He was trying to escape the reality by thinking about else. The worst part of it was that he knew it. He knew that his mind and conscience were trying to find something he could blame, and since he couldn't bring himself to blame others, he turned on the only target he had left. Himself. He started to recall his actions, his decisions and everything else he had done during the battle. Desperately hoping to find the mistake he made and which had led to this result. As expected he did recall several occasions where he could have done things differently – fired for a second sooner, turned in the other direction, prioritized another target and so on. However, Mu fully understood that these weren't mistakes. They were genuine battlefield decisions, made in a combat situation. They only looked like mistakes because he wanted to find a mistake, wanted to find something to blame himself for. He forced himself to stop then and three. No matter how hard it was, there was nothing to contemplate and nothing he could change, no matter how much he wanted to. Of course that didn't mean he had to forget about Kira and Tolle, but there was a difference between remembering fallen comrades and moving on, and entering a self-destructive cycle of questioning and blaming oneself for every action taken.

Mu knew how devastating this cycle could be; after all he had experienced it on his own skin. The Battle at Endymion Crater, the final battle of the Grimaldi Front, had resulted in the total destruction of the Alliance's 3rd Fleet and its elite Moebius Zero Corps. The unit Mu had been part of during the early stages of war. As the only survivor of that terrible battle, Mu had fallen into a similar cycle when the survivor's guilt kicked in and it had struck him very bad. He had started drinking. Heavily. For weeks he had spent almost every day in a drunken stupor, emptying every bottle he could get his hands on, as he tried to erase the nightmarish memories and embrace the welcoming oblivion of unconsciousness. Only after landing in a hospital with alcohol poisoning and being forced to seek professional help, had Mu started to walk the path of recovery. It had been a long and difficult road, but in the end he came to terms with his memories and moved on. However, he didn't fool himself by thinking that it wouldn't be a problem anymore. The temptation would always be there. Hell, it was already there, reaching to him through his desire to blame himself for Tolle's and Kira's fates. _NO!_ Mu thought to himself and forced himself to open his eyes; he hadn't even realized he'd closed them during his introspection. He was stronger than that! He would miss them, mourn them, but he would not fall into that old pit again!

A loud, screeching noise brought Mu out of his thoughts. He looked up just in time to see the Dingo entering the hangar. The AC moved slowly and for a moment Mu thought it was because of combat damage. However, he quickly dismissed that thought. Sure, the AC was damaged, but the few scars weren't serious and were located mostly in nonthreatening locations, so the machine could not be slowed down by some kind of mechanical problem. It was when the Dingo took another step and fully entered the hangar, did Mu found out the reason of the Dingo's unusual movements.

The Dingo's left hand was clutched around the light blue and copper brown ankle of the Pulverizer as the Dingo dragged the machine into the hangar. The reason for such action was obvious. The Pulverizer was heavily damaged. It's right leg was gone, blown off at the thigh. The right arm was dragging behind the machine, only a few cables connecting it to the core. The left arm was in a slightly better condition, since it was still firmly attached to the core. However, it was missing the triangular emitter and had only a wrecked stump just below the elbow joint. In addition to the obvious damage, almost every part of the Pulverizer sported dents, holes and cracks of various sizes, like an ice statue sprayed with boiling water and worked over with a couple of hammers. Some holes were big enough for everyone to get a good look at some of the internal systems, which were also busted as well. The only part that wasn't damaged was the very center of the core's front part, where the PS armor was installed. In short, the Pulverizer was a total write-off. The damage was so extensive that repairing it would mean replacing more than half of the parts the machine had. It would be far easier to salvage what very little was still intact for spare parts and scrap the rest of it. Problem was, the Pulverizer was one of a kind machine. There were no spare parts for it. And even if they did go and disassemble it for anything usable, there was nothing they could do with the parts they salvaged. At least as far as using them in another machine was concerned. Sure, they would be invaluable as research material, but that was all. In addition to the Skygrasper and the Strike, the Archangel had also lost the Pulverizer.

However, the Pulverizer's state mattered little to Mu. He had other worries in mind. "What the hell are you doing! Let the Pulverizer go!" Mu shouted across the hangar, as he jumped to his feet and hurried over to the two machines. "What about Daniel? What happened to him? Is he still alive?"

Jack ignored Mu's words until the Pulverizer was completely inside the hangar. Only then did he turn the Dingo towards Mu. "Daniel? Oh, you mean the pilot of this thing? I dunno." Jack shrugged, though no one could see that. "I mean he was screaming across the radio, but he fell silent a few minutes ago and hasn't let out a single sound." He made the Dingo release the Pulverizer's ankle and then poked the Pulverizer with the muzzle of his machine gun a few times. No response. "Nothing. I guess he died or something."

"Shut the fuck up and step away from the Pulverizer!" Mu was absolutely livid. His despair was replaced by intense anger at Jack's treatment of a fellow pilot. "Get that thing open! And someone, get a medic down here!" He turned his attention to the mechanics. Turns out. his words weren't required, some of the mechanics, including Chief Murdoch were already rushing towards the Pulverizer, a plethora of various tools in hand, while one mechanic was using the intercom to get help. Mu also ran towards the Pulverizer's head, ready to help out in any way he could. He was determined to make sure the Archangel lost no more pilots. Not today, and not while he could do anything about it.

He ran past the Dingo, the AC standing motionless as Jack observed the rescue attempts, and soon rounded the Pulverizer's left shoulder, and reached the machine's head. A group of mechanics was already at work, using cutting torches and even a saw in order to remove the head so that they could reach the cockpit underneath it. Though there was an emergency access panel, allowing the cockpit to be opened from outside, this option was denied to the rescuers. Not only did they lack the security codes required to open the cockpit, but the panel itself had been destroyed at one point of the battle. This left brute force as the only solution. Unfortunately, brute force seemed to be a rather ineffective approach since the armor was almost impossible to cut with the tools the Archangel's mechanics had at their disposal. Sure, they would cut a hole eventually, but time was something they didn't have. Or rather, time was something Daniel didn't have. Lack of any response meant something was wrong with him. "C'mon, guys, hurry up!" Mu heard Murdoch urge his men to work faster.

"We're trying! The damned armor's too tough! We can barely scratch it!" One of the mechanics replied as he was trying to cut the armor with his torch.

Murdoch saw Mu approaching and nodded at the Pulverizer. "Been having problems with this thing since the day one. No matter what we use, nothing seems to work. At least not as fast as we would like."

"How long 'till you reach Daniel?"

"A couple of hours." Murdoch said through gritted teeth. "I know, it's too slow, but that's the only thing we can do. The emergency control panel's been busted so that's out. And it's not like we knew the security password anyway. Stupid machine!" He spat on the floor.

By the time Murdoch finished his sentence, Mu wasn't listening anymore. He was busy trying to figure out a way to speed up the process. If it took as long as Murdoch predicted it would take. Daniel might be long dead. He looked around, but nothing came to mind. At least until he looked at the Dingo. "You know, I think I have an idea." Mu said and walked towards the Dingo who was still standing next to the Pulverizer as Jack continued to watch the slow-paced rescue attempt. "Hey, Jack. I need you to do something. Can you tear off the Pulverizer's head?"

"What?" Both Jack and Murdoch said in almost perfect unison.

"I want you to tear off the Pulverizer's head. Cutting through the armor will take too long and since we don't have much time we have to improvise."

"Hmm, I think I might be able to do that." Jack said after quickly examining the Pulverizer's head. "It's not like a bit more damage will make it worse … get out of the way." He put down the machine gun and knelt on one knee, bringing the Dingo closer to the target. Once the mechanics were gone, he reached out, grabbed the Pulverizer's head with both hands, and pulled. A loud groaning noise echoed across the hangar as the Dingo tried to forcibly remove the Pulverizer's head. Jack added a twisting and bending movements as well in order to further weaken the structure. It wasn't that different from tearing off a human's head. You had to break the spine, cut a few muscles before you could pull it off. Obviously, doing it with a AC was much easier, or at least cleaner. He didn't have to worry about the blood, unlike that one time with that stupid punk.

Finally, with a shriek of metal and a few sparks from some cables, the head broke off its assembly and was soon dropped on the floor nearby as the Dingo walked away to its parking space. Almost immediately several mechanics went to work on the exposed cockpit hatch. Now that they didn't have to deal with the armor, their work progressed much faster. Even though the main hull also was more resistant than that of a Mobile Suit, it wasn't much of a difference and the mechanics made quick progress in a very short time. A pair of magnetic clamps were attached to the hatch by one mechanic in order to prevent the hatch from falling inside the cockpit, once the cutter had completed his task. Finally, after a few minutes of work, the cutting was done and a pair of mechanics proceeded to lift away the hatch.

The metal plate was barely out of the way when Mu was already reaching into the hole, his eyes searching for Daniel. It was hard to see anything, since the cockpit's lights were out. Only after Mu climbed inside the cockpit did he spot Daniel. The boy was lying motionless in his seat. Mu crawled closer to him and lightly tapped him on the helmet. When no response came, Mu leaned closer and took a look at Daniel's visor. "FUCK!" Mu cursed and quickly tore off the helmet. Immediately, the stench of vomit filled the cockpit. "Shit! You'd better not be dead because of this!" Mu tossed the helmet aside and stuck his fingers behind Daniel's suit's collar, feeling for the pulse, while planting his ear next to Daniel's mouth. Throwing up while wearing a helmet was incredibly dangerous, since there was a very real possibility of drowning in your own vomit, unless you quickly took it off, which was very hard to do if you were unconscious at that time. After a few seconds of listening Mu felt both relieved and horrified. Relieved because he could feel Daniel's pulse, horrified because his breath was very shallow and intermittent. One thing was certain, he needed help, fast.

Behind him, Mu heard the sounds of several people running closer and closer. Apparently the medical team was arriving. Glad that Daniel was still alive, Mu started to think about how he would get Daniel out of the cockpit. The most obvious problem was the way the Pulverizer, and everything inside it, was placed. Since the Pulverizer was lying on its back, the rear wall of the cockpit was the new floor whereas the front part, where the cracked main display was located, played the role of the ceiling. As a result it was both disorienting and a little hard to move around. However, with Mu's experience of having the gravity change directions and directions being a rather relative term, he didn't have to worry about disorientation. Also, it took him only a bit of stretching in order to get around the cockpit.

He had just finished moving in a position where he was crouching by the seat's side when someone, apparently a medic, stuck his head into the cockpit. The man instantly took in the situation and nodded at Daniel. "Is he still alive? Any serious injury?"

"Yes, he's alive, but barely. The pulse is weak and the breath is irregular. He threw up inside his helmet, but the amount is very little and there seems to danger of him choking on it." Mu replied and quickly scanned the rest of Daniel's body for more injuries, while attempting to free the boy from his restraints at the same time. "Face is pale, probably from shock and... fuck!" Mu's eyes fell on Daniel's right arm which was bent at a weird angle at the middle of his forearm. Not only that, but the dark, wet patch of blood on the flight suit told Mu that this was an open fracture. "His right arm is broken, looks like a compound type fracture." He also saw the reason why, the restraints on the right side were ripped apart, probably at some point when the Pulverizer had been shot at, leaving Daniel unable to avoid being slammed against the various surfaces inside the cockpit.

Mu quickly released the other restraint and was about to start moving Daniel out of the cockpit when he noticed another set of restraints around Daniel's chest and abdomen. Mu gently rolled Dainel's body a bit to the side in order to find out where these restraints were coming from. Unlike the previous ones, these were made of some kind of metal and led to a metal plate which was tightly secured to Daniel's back. Several thick cables connected the plate with something Mu couldn't see, since they disappeared into the small opening in the seat's backrest. Mu tried to open the restraints by force, but was forced to abandon his attempts when nothing came of it. The restraints were too tough and too tightly locked around Daniel's body. He couldn't even get his fingers behind them in order to get a proper grip.

Conscious of the fact that the time for Daniel was running out, Mu decided to improvise. If he couldn't open the restraints, he'll work around them. "Hey, you!" He glanced at the medic. "I need nippers! Quickly!" The few seconds it took for the medic to acquire the tool from one of the mechanics felt like eternity. "I can't get him out of his restraints, so I'll cut them." Mu explained as he took the tool from the medic. With a series of quick snaps, he cut all the cables connecting the plate on Daniel's back with … whatever they led to. However, much to his frustration, as soon as he cut the last cable the restraints popped open and the plate fell off Daniel's back with a faint mechanical sound of something moving. What it was Mu couldn't see, but at that moment he didn't care. He had other things to worry about.

Throwing the nippers aside, he started moving Daniel towards the exit as gently, but at the same time quickly, as he could. It was a difficult task, considering the tight space and how hard it was to move an unconscious body. In the end, it took him almost two minutes to get Daniel to where the medic could reach him and help out. Working together, both men managed to gently get Daniel out of the Pulverizer relatively quickly. The moment Daniel was outside another medic took over for Mu and helped his partner move Daniel to the stretchers. By the time Mu climbed out of the Pulverizer's cockpit, both medics were already gone. Now that he knew Daniel was in safe hands and would probably make it, Mu felt slightly better. At least he had managed to do something for one of the pilots. Sure, he would have preferred to have all three pilots by his side, but right now at least one was still something. At least one ray of hope amidst the sea of darkness was better than nothing.

"Heh, that guy sure wasn't looking so hot." A voice from right next to him cause Mu to jump slightly. It was Jack. "Serves him right. No one asked him to pick a fight with all those bastards. Idiot." He said with a sneer while adjusting the helmet he held in the crook of his left arm.

"What did you just say!" Mu narrowed his eyes at the obvious disdain Jack had for Daniel. All of his anger seemed to rise up inside him when he watched the insolent punk actually laugh at Daniel's misfortune.

"No wonder they gang raped him like a misbehaving whore in a dark alley. Someone like him going against six or seven Muscle, I mean Mobile Suits... I'm surprised he's still alive." Jack replied and turned around to take a look at the damaged Pulverizer. "From the looks of it I'm going to get fucked as well. This certainly smells like fifty percent off my paycheck. What a fucked up day this is!" He went on to investigate the cockpit.

Mu was barely holding himself together in order to avoid hitting Jack in the face. Even the fact that Jack was still more or less a kid, didn't do much to dissuade his anger. It felt surreal to hear someone talking about money when there were much bigger problems at hand. "Jack." Mu said in a low voice. "Daniel is heavily injured, Kira has been captured and Tolle is dead and all you can think about is money?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Why should I care if those guys croaked or not?" Jack said while sticking his head inside the cockpit. He winced when he smelled the stench of vomit inside. _Shit, the fucker's gone and puked inside here as well? What the fuck! _"They weren't anything special. At least not to me. So forgive me if I don't feel like joining the collective sniveling which I suspect will happen on this ship." He was so immersed in his investigation; he didn't even notice that Mu was standing right behind him, tightly clenched fists by his sides.

_One more word you stupid bastard! Just one more word and I'll punch your lights out!_ Mu gritted his teeth so hard he was sure he could hear them cracking. It wasn't Jack's refusal to mourn the fate of the three pilots that angered him. In fact Mu would be very surprised if Jack was sad about them. It would be unreal and a very naïve way of thinking. Jack's relationship with them was nothing like that. Instead, as far as Mu could tell, it had been more of a business type of relationship. Just a group of guys stationed on the same ship as Jack. However, despite the situation, Mu had expected Jack to show at least some respect for fellow pilots. Just enough for courtesy's sake.

In the end Mu managed to reign in his anger. Hitting Jack would provide no answers and absolutely no peace. People like him weren't worth the trouble. However, as he walked away, Mu caught himself thinking that perhaps things would have been a lot better if Jack had been the one who suffered the fate of Kira, Tolle or Daniel.

xxxxx

Murrue stepped out of the boat and made her way down the quickly assembled pier towards the shore. It took her a bit longer than expected to reach the shore because of the activity on the pier. Multiple transports were also docked at the pier and were busy either unloading their contents or were in the process of being loaded. Most of the time the transports were unloading the wounded soldiers, so that they could be transported to a more secure location, where they could receive initial aid, be sorted out and prepared for more a more serious transport to one of the huge transport ships.

The entire pier was full of people. Wounded soldiers, arranged in orderly ranks, were lying in their stretchers, waiting for their turn to be carried onto the beach. Medics were moving back and forth among the wounded, administering whatever aid they could in order to make sure the injured survived long enough. Numerous soldiers, working in pairs, were carrying their comrades off the beach, forming a continuous train as one line moved towards the beach while the second one returned for more injured.

Among this organized chaos there was barely enough room for Murrue to move around. Very often she had to step aside in order to let small groups of soldiers pass. Even though she was probably the highest ranking officer on the pier, at that moment rank didn't grant a person any privileges as far as walking was concerned. Only the wounded and stretcher bearers were given as much passage as possible. Everyone else had to find their own way.

It took Murrue almost seven minutes to get from her transport onto the beach. A task that would have required barely a minute in normal conditions. The situation on the beach was very similar, the wounded were everywhere. Fortunately for Murrue, there was a lot more room and she was able to move at a quicker pace. Something she was glad to be able to do. Now that she wasn't in the middle of a crowd, she could see her surroundings more clearly. Unfortunately, it meant that Murrue was exposed to the sight of dozens of wounded soldiers. Some sported relatively inconspicuous wounds, scrapes or bruises. Most of the time a lot of wounds were already covered with bandages. However, there were also a lot of severely wounded soldiers as well. Missing limbs, severe burns, fractures, lacerations and other unpleasant sights made Murrue feel a bit nauseous. She never had much of a stomach for the bloody side of the war since she wasn't involved in the up and close fighting. Most often her enemies were nothing more than icons on the display. Even that time on Heliopolis, when ZAFT had launched their raid, it had been nothing like what she was seeing now.

Focusing her mind on the meeting she had to attend, Murrue did her best to tune out the noises and sights around her, as she made a brisk walk towards the jungle, where several vehicles were parked before or after going into the jungle, towards the camp. Murrue was still thinking how she would get a ride when a familiar voice called to her. "Murrue! Hey, Murrue! Captain Ramius! Over here!" Murrue looked around and saw Maria waving to her from a nearby triage post.

Murrue quickly crossed the twelve meter distance between them and was soon standing next to Maria. Maria was sitting on an empty crate at the very edge of the post where she was just barely covered from the sun by the large canopy erected overhead, her legs resting on the same crate while another crate served as a backrest for her. The reasons for this were her legs which were bandaged from ankles all the way up to mid-thigh. Apparently she had been injured during the fighting. Despite the injury, Maria seemed to be in a rather good mood. A sharp contrast to the atmosphere on the beach.

"Took some frag." Maria traced Murrue's look. "Messed up with a grenade when they tried to swarm Pumba. It's nothing serious, don't worry. By the time medics got to me Felix had already pulled out most of them." She explained before giving Murrue a puzzled look. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Captain Sutherland asked me to meet him at the Rear Admiral's tent. He said he had something to discuss with him and wanted me to attend that meeting."

Maria adjusted her trousers, which were folded up all the way to her mid-thigh, with a thoughtful expression. "Sutherland, huh? I've heard that name. I think he's supposed to be a pretty big shot in the Alliance High Command or something like that."

"I heard that as well. Rumors say he has ties with Blue Cosmos. I don't know if that's true, but I know one thing, he scares me." Murrue shivered lightly and it had nothing to do with the surrounding temperature. "He seems to be the man who doesn't take no for an answer."

"In that case, I guess you should go. If he truly is as powerful as they say, it wouldn't be good to keep him waiting." Maria's good mood was suddenly replaced by more than mild concern. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Murrue forced a smile. "Will you be alright?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'll wait until Felix and Robert get back from the Pumba and then we'll try to find a way to get back to the Archangel. Now go." Maria replied, urging Murrue to go. For a while she watched the other woman walk away towards the vehicles, but the moment Murrue was out of her sight, Maria reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a small bag, full of dog tags. She then fished out another dog tag from her pants and, with a deep sigh, threw the dog tag of her tank's driver into the bag.

xxxxx

A solid punch struck Kira in the jaw, splitting his lip and causing him to turn his head in order to absorb the blow. He grunted when someone drove a knee into his stomach a second later and followed up with a nasty uppercut. He tried to free his arms in order to defend himself, but his struggles only resulted in his arms twisted in a way that almost dislocated them as the two people holding his arms used the opportunity to hurt him. One of them kicked Kira's right shin so hard it went numb. Immediately he started falling to his right, but was prevented from reaching the floor by his captors. "Hey, hold him up! I ain't done with him." Someone said. Kira didn't see who it was, in fact it was hard to see anything when someone grabbed him by his hair and pulled him up so hard his eyes filled with tears. A second later a pair of punches were delivered to his face. One blow struck underneath his left eye and the second one impacted his nose. A jolt of pain shot up to his forehead as he heard his nose crack. The combined force of the two blows was so strong his captors were unable to hold him. With a heavy thud Kira fell down on the hard floor. His hands immediately went to his nose, which didn't seem broken. He did feel a lot of blood flowing from it, coating his palms crimson red. Kira didn't get much of a chance to closer examine his injury since he came under attack from all five opponents. Punishing kicks were delivered to his sides, back and stomach as his attackers unloaded their anger on him, laughing and jeering at the same time. Kira curved up in a ball and covered his head with his arms in an effort to defend himself, hoping that it would stop, hoping that someone would put an end to this.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" A loud voice boomed across the hangar, accompanied by a barely noticeable echo as the sound waves bounced off the metallic surfaces, such as walls, separating the hangar from other sections of the transport ship they were on. "Leave him alone!" The voice said again. This time a bit more quietly as the person responsible for the intervention kept walking towards the small group. Kira risked a quick look at his rescuer. It wasn't easy. His vision was swimming a bit from all the kicks he had received, and the swelling of the bruise underneath his left eye was serious enough to obstruct his vision. Still, he managed to get a good look of the person.

Whoever the guy was, he was definitely a pilot. The flight suit he wore was a pretty dead giveaway. Not only that, but the flight suit was red which meant the guy was a Redcoat, one of ZAFT's elite pilots. He seemed to a quite a bit taller than Kira, approximately ten or so centimeters taller, though it was hard to tell due to the pilot's lean body shape which made him look relatively thin. However, there was sort of a wiry look to the pilot's body, leading Kira to realize that the guy was a lot stronger than he looked. The pilot's appearance spoke of Asian ancestry, evident by short, spiky, jet black hair, narrow eyes and the distinctive facial features. Though Kira did notice that the eyes were yellow in color, probably altered by the pilot's parents. He also noted the fierce look in the pilot's eyes due to the glare he was giving the group of three soldiers and two mechanics surrounding Kira. "What's going on here? Why are you kicking him?" The pilot demanded in an authoritative voice.

"I have a better question, Akira. Why not?" Another voice spoke up causing everyone, including the pilot named Akira, to turn in the direction of the voice. It was another pilot. Also a Redcoat, though slightly younger than the one who had intervened. He ran his hand through his violet, neck length hair, further increasing the disheveled look, as he made his way towards the small group. His brown eyes staring at Kira with the same look someone would give to a particularly gross insect. "The fucker's a Trog. A boot to the face is all his kind deserves. Ain't that right you dumb Trog?" When he saw the puzzled look on Kira's face the Redcoat sat on his haunches and arched his eyebrows. "You don't know what a Trog is? How stupid can you get? Trog is a person like you. A dumb fuck troglodyte, who lives in a cave, wears animal skins and is in no way different from any other animal ... Seesh, just being near you makes me want to puke." He stood up and raised his foot in order to stomp on Kira's face, but the other pilot, Akira, moved forward and grabbed his comrade by the shoulder and pulled him back, away from Kira.

"Enough, Albert! You will not harm him! He is a prisoner of war!"

"Let me go!" Albert jerked his shoulder out of Akira's grip and turned to face the other pilot. Though Albert was slightly taller and more heavily built than Akira, the shorter pilot did not back down. He stared back in Albert's eyes and did not move even when Albert got in his face. "He's a fucking Trog! They don't deserve to be spared. The only thing his kind deserves is a bullet to the head. Nothing more."

"He is a prisoner of war, and as a result will be treated according to international conventions." Akira repeated in a calm voice. "His genetics have absolutely nothing to do with his rights as a prisoner."

"Rights? You're saying he's got rights? Don't you dare spout that bullshit at me! He doesn't deserve any rights!" Albert growled through gritted teeth and took a step closer to Akira, standing practically nose to nose with him. Still, Akira did not move man continued to match his glare with his own. Albert opened his mouth to say something more, but he suddenly caught sight of movement somewhere behind Akira. He looked past his opponent and saw something that changed his expression from merely angry to absolutely vicious. "Not after what he's done to them!" Everyone, even Kira looked in the indicated direction. It didn't take long to see what Albert was talking about.

Six soldiers, accompanied by several medics, were carrying three sets of stretchers across the hangar, from where a total of four, heavily damaged machines were located. One of the damaged machines was the captured Strike Gundam, the other three were the Aegis and the Duel, as well as the Romeo. The three people on the stretchers were the pilots of three of those machines – Juliet, Yzak and Athrun, and all three of them were wounded. Yzak and Juliet looked especially bad. Both were unconscious and sported large amounts of temporary bandages around their largest wounds. The entire chest and stomach region of Yzak's flight suit was covered in holes, caused by either pieces of metal with razor sharp, jagged edges stuck in Yzak's stomach, or drops of molten metal and plastic that had landed on the chest. The nauseating smell of singed polymers and burnt flesh was strong enough to be felt from quite a distance away. Juliet also sported a nasty wound. The bandages, covering her right side, were soaked red with blood from the massive cut Kira had inflicted earlier. Though the medics had managed to temporarily stop the bleeding, there were other injuries as well. Broken ribs, arm, dislocated shoulder, a lung on the verge of collapse and numerous small lacerations which, just like Juliet's other open wounds, were full of dirt, metallic fragments and all sorts of other objects, which meant the risk of infection was extremely high.

Athrun's wounds were less bloody than those of his fellow pilots. Mostly small cuts to his back, shoulders and most of the upper left arm where small pieces of shrapnel had lacerated him when one of the main capacitors, damaged in the attack, had exploded and the safety systems had not been able to direct the entirety of the explosion away from the cockpit. Though many, the cuts were relatively small and shallow, posing little danger to Athrun's life. However, there were other, less visible injuries as well. The heavy blows Kira had delivered with the Strike's shield, coupled with the Aegis's fall after Kira had cut off both of its legs, had not been kind on Athrun. The combined force from three impacts in a relatively short time had been enough to give Athrun a nasty concussion. Concussion which was made even worse when Athrun hadn't managed to position himself correctly before the Aegis had impacted the ground, causing him to smash his head against his seat in a very unfortunate fashion. It had been one of those times when things had gone bad despite the safety measures. As a result, Athrun though awake, was not even barely aware of his surroundings. His vision was blurry and constantly shifting. Any attempt to focus his eyes only worsened the nausea, assuming Athrun could formulate such a thought in the first place. His mind was swimming so bad that forming any though; much less a coherent one was beyond him. He simply did not have the strength to do so. Athrun could only linger in the grey zone between awareness and the welcoming oblivion of unconsciousness, therefore he had no chance of seeing, much less recognizing the small group of people he passed.

Kira was still staring at Athrun, shocked by the state his friend was in, when a kick to his stomach brought him out of the trance. He curled up into a ball, hands going to his stomach even as he gasped for the breath that had been knocked out of him by the sudden blow. "DID YOU SEE THAT, YOU STUPID FUCK? Did you see your handiwork? … Agh, let me go! Let me go so that I can kill him! Let me go!" Kira heard Albert yell nearby. His voice became a series of grunts and gasps as he struggled with Akira who had restrained him in a chokehold, preventing the violet haired pilot from harming Kira any further.

"Take him to the brig! And make sure to get a doctor look at him later! … NOW!" Akira ordered the nearby soldiers whilst maintaining his hold on Albert and bending him further backwards, lifting the taller man off his feet, denying him any leverage. "And if I see one more bruise on that pilot, I'll make sure you won't leave the brig until we reach Carpentaria."

Kira was slightly aware of two soldiers half carrying, half dragging him towards their destination. All of his thoughts revolved around the sight of the three pilots being carried away to the sickbay. They were injured because of him, because he fought them. He had won, they had lost. All because Tolle had died. All because they chose to fight him. It was their fault, their decision. If they hadn't killed Tolle, perhaps it wouldn't have come to this. Perhaps it would have ended differently. Perhaps they wouldn't have been … Kira startled when he realized where his train of thought was going. Was he sorry for them? Was he feeling guilty because he had injured them? Sure, he was feeling sorry for Athrun, he hadn't intended to hurt him. Athrun was his friend. At least that's what Kira thought so. However, the question was, was he feeling guilty for the other two?

xxxxx

The first thing Murrue noticed, when she entered the Admiral's tent some twenty minutes later, was a group of Atlantic Federation Captains standing at the nearest side of the large table and Rear Admiral Sergei Groskoev on the other side. Around them, several soldiers were manning the communications equipment, coordinating the post battle recovery operations. As before they were fully dedicated to their tasks, utterly ignoring everything that was irrelevant to their tasks. Or so it seemed. The few glances Murrue saw the soldiers throwing at the group of people around the table, told her that they were faking their indifferent facade. A fair amount of their attention was oriented on the conversation taking place between the Rear Admiral and Captains.

When Murrue focused her gaze on the people surrounding the table, she realized that only two people were talking, William Sutherland and Sergei Groskoev. The remaining four Captains were standing slightly behind William, offering a united front against the Eurasian officer and throwing in their support behind William. Still, even with five men standing against him, Sergei didn't appear to be intimidated. He stood tall and seemingly calm, his arms across his chest, though a second look did betray the slight tension in his posture and the look in his eyes showed Murrue that on the inside, he was far from being calm. William on the other hand looked a less peaceful. He was leaning heavily on the table, hands gripping the edge so hard they were almost white as he glared at Sergei with an obvious expression of anger in his face.

Murrue quietly approached the table, sharing a brief nod with the people involved as they reacted to her entrance, and took her place near the table. Though she was standing on the same side as William's group she maintained some distance from them, standing closer to the corner of the table rather than to the middle. She did it for two reasons, one because that part of the table was closer to her, and the other because she had no idea what was going on, so she decided to stand slightly away from the main discussion. Much to her surprise, her decision earned her more than a couple of strange looks, but before she could ask for the reason, William spoke up.

"Now, Admiral, as I already told you, we're here to take care of the remains of the crashed machine you recovered."

"No thanks, we can take care of it ourselves. After all that's the reason why my forces are in the area. Despite the battle, we're still fully equipped to recover everything from the crash site, so no assistance will be necessary." Sergei replied with a wintry smile. "Though I would like to know what are you doing all the way out here? I mean, I understand that you're here for the AC, but I'm puzzled as to why? We can retrieve it ourselves. Sending a team from Panama seems kind of … wasteful."

"I am fully aware of your capabilities. The point is, what are you going to do with them? We both know that the AC contains a lot of highly advanced technologies, despite the state it's in. Examining it will require sophisticated means and highly developed facilities. Something you don't have. We, on the other hand, do have that kind of research facilities at Porta Panama. Sending the AC there will be a lot faster and safer."

"Oh, I don't know about that. We do have our own research centers in Europe, which are more than capable of unlocking whatever secrets that thing contains."

"Europe is on the other side of the world. It will take you weeks to transport the remains." William pointed out through gritted teeth.

Sergei merely shrugged. "Well, difficult times call for difficult measures. Don't worry, we'll manage just fine. Besides, most of the parts are already loaded into our transports, unloading them will take a lot of time and we're on a tight schedule, those transports have a long trip ahead."

"Then allow me to take your transports to Porta Panama."

"Can't do that. There are a lot of wounded aboard the ships as well, they need medical help as soon as possible."

"Which you are denying by sending them to who knows where instead of Panama, which is a lot closer."

"It's okay; they're prepared to make sacrifices." Sergei shrugged again, keeping a sheepish look on his face under the incredulous looks the other officers gave him.

William took a deep breath, begging for patience as he tried to come up with a way to break this man and bend him to his will. He knew it would be hard, but it turned out to be almost impossible. William wished he could simply gun the bastard down and take control over this miserable bunch of soldiers. Problem was, he was outnumbered and waving his gun around would only result in him getting shot, since he was very well aware of the fact that there were very few people on these islands who were friendly to the Atlantic Federation. He was practically inside hostile territory, so he had to be real careful about how he handled this. The worst part was that Sergei knew it as well, that's why he was playing this foolish game. William took a deep breath and calmed down a little. "Okay, look, we're not getting anywhere arguing like this. So let's be honest with each other."

"So the Atlantic Federation is being honest now? Oh, I bet this will be good."

William ignored the scathing remark and adopted a diplomatic tone. "Sergei, we both know why we're here. Technologies contained in that AC are very valuable to both of our nations. Technologies which will allow us to not just even the technological level with the Coordinators, but to actually put us ahead of them. Giving us the much needed edge to break the stalemate and win the war." He paused for a moment, satisfied to see the thoughtful look on Sergei's face. The man was following him. Good. "Since we're allies, this is what I'm going to propose. You give the remains of the AC to us and in return we will send you data, containing all the technological information we manage to obtain from the AC."

"Though Eurasians can do the same thing and send us the data." Murrue said, speaking more to herself than anyone else. Truth was she was getting tired of the political bullshit these men were busy passing back and forth. She had other, more important things to do. It was only when she felt the stares of everyone focused on her, did Murrue realize that she had said it loud enough for others to hear. Realizing that she had their attention and that backing down would only make matters worse, Murrue decided to fully voice her thoughts, hoping to end this debate as quickly as possible. "It is obvious he does not want to give up the AC. So instead of trying to take it from them, we can allow Eurasians to research the AC and send us the data." There was a long silence in the room, during which Murrue saw those strange looks again, only this time they were slightly different and Murrue couldn't shake the feeling of some kind of judgment being passed on her. Perhaps, she shouldn't have said anything at all.

Sergei was the first to recover, as he put a wide smile on his face and turned his attention to William. "I was going to say the same, but she beat me to it. We can easily do the whole thing in reverse. Instead of asking you to sacrifice your resources for us, we'll be the generous ones. We'll do the research and share the data with you. Just like you have done in the past, our dear allies." At that point Murrue realized what was going on and how badly her idea had backfired. Though she had very little idea about what kind of information was exchanged between the two nations, Murrue was more than aware of the fact that the Atlantic Federation, her nation, had done precious little sharing in the past. It was one of the reasons for the bad relationships between both Federations. Her own ship as well as the Strike was a prime example of the fact. What Sergei was saying was that Eurasians had absolutely no intention of sharing the information gained from the AC. Sure, they would share some of the research in order to shut up most of the protests, but that would only include the least valuable data, while the real gems would be for Eurasians to keep.

William was thinking the same thing since he threw a hateful glare at Murrue before addressing Sergei. This time, he didn't bother with being diplomatic; instead he decided to utilize all of his power to make sure the AC would leave these islands as his possession. "Very well, I see where this is going. You leave me no choice." He said quietly and opened the folder he had placed on the table at the beginning of the conversation. "I didn't want to go this far, I respect … respected you too much to order you around in front of your men, but if that's how you want to play, that's fine by me." He pulled out a few documents and tossed them across the table in front of Sergei. "Those are orders from the Alliance High Command, ordering you to surrender all command authority to me and give over the remains of the AC to Atlantic Federation forces in the area. As an officer of the Earth Alliance Forces, you, Sergei, are obliged to follow these orders or I will have you placed in custody for insubordination."

The smile on Sergei's face disappeared and was replaced by a deep, yet determined frown. He picked up the orders, glanced at them, and then casually tossed them back at William, scattering them all over the table in the process. The hidden message was impossible to misunderstand. "You've wasted several pages of good paper, since I have no intention and no obligations to follow these, what you call, orders."

"Are you disregarding an order from the…" William started to say, but was cut off.

"And what makes you think that we're here as members of the Earth Alliance, huh?" Sergei said and leaned closer to William, a dangerous light gleaming in his eyes. "This here's an EFEC operation." Once again there was silence, but this time it was full of tension as Atlantic Federation officers, including Murrue, considered what they had just heard. EFEC, short for Eurasian Federation Enforcers Corps, was the official name of the Eurasian Federation's military, before the Earth Alliance Forces were formed shortly before the war, resulting in the disbandment of EFEC. However, if what Sergei said was true and EFEC did exist, it would open one hell of a can of worms, since it meant that Eurasian Federation was even less of an ally as they thought and were rebuilding their own separate army.

"You can't be serious! EFEC was disbanded!" One of the Captains behind William's back, a young man, sporting the complexion of Latin Americas, exclaimed.

"When? Name the date when the official declaration of EFEC's disbandment was made?" Sergei countered fiercely as he straightened himself. "EFEC has never been officially disbanded. The entire world merely assumed it when the Earth Alliance Forces were formed. We didn't go anywhere. We have always been here and always will be. And don't fool yourselves by thinking that just because of those freaks up in space we'll forget everything." He finished with a maniacal look in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" William glared back at him, as he considered the seriousness of the situation.

"You know very well what I'm talking about. Ever since the Reconstruction War your nation has been using its power to bleed all the other nations dry. You took with force what you couldn't have by right, and passed laws that let you take what you couldn't have by force. You robbed us of everything. Money, power, influence … friends, comrades, honor, all sold to the highest bidder, the Atlantic Federation. You grew fat on the sweat and blood of others, you prospered while others wept. You pushed our nation into the abyss just so that you could remain on your golden throne and dictate your will to all others." Sergei's quiet voice was filled with enough venom to put down an elephant. "And now that we have a chance to regain the place which is rightfully ours, your "leaders" have sent their dogs to snatch away the prize my soldiers fought and died for."

"Is there a point to this sob story?" William taunted the other man, despite the fact that he was in the middle of a potentially hostile camp. The distasteful thought of having to return empty handed gave him more than enough courage to stand up to the ultranationalist.

"Eurasia shall rise again and it will be the remains of this AC that will allow us to achieve that. And then, then we will bow to no one." Sergei almost whispered. "Be a good dog and go back to your masters. Tell them that this time they will not take what does not belong to them."

William looked around, his eyes searching for something he could use against Sergei, something that would allow him to leave this tent as a victor. Unfortunately there was nothing there that could bring him victory, only the foul taste of defeat reigned inside the tent. With no options left, and faced with an insane ultranationalist who refused to listen to anything he had to say, William was forced to admit defeat. He didn't have the physical or the political strength to bend this man to his will. At least not now. He was certain that after returning to Panama he would be able to call in a few favors, pull a couple of strings, grease a few palms and arrange a very nasty revenge. The problem was that by the time he arranged his payback; the AC would be long gone, hauled off to some secret research base. And all trails would have vanished somewhere in Eurasian bureaucracy. _Damned bastard, I'll get you for this!_ William promised himself to make sure Sergei would be sent off to some hopeless battle to die. "I see that nothing can be gained by talking to you. Don't worry; I'll deliver your message. Keep in mind that this is not over. Your actions will have consequences." William said in a formal tone and prepared to leave. "I'll leave these to you." He pointed at the scattered pages. "A future remainder that disobedience will not go unpunished."

"Do your worst." Sergei smiled and watched the small group of Atlantic Federation's officers leave. They all left without sparing him a second glance, obviously considering him already dead. Perhaps it was true, perhaps his days were numbered, but to him it mattered little. If he had to lay down his career or his life in order to serve his own country, then Sergei would do it a hundred times over. It was about time those Atlantic Federation bastards learned how it felt to be on the bottom. They all deserved it, all as one. His eyes fell on the sole female Captain heading towards the exit. Well, maybe not all of them. "Captain Ramius. Could you spare a minute, please?"

He watched the young Captain give him a puzzled look before checking on her comrades who had already left the tent and showed no signs of caring about whether she accompanied them or not. Slowly, a bit hesitantly Murrue nodded in agreement and walked back to the table. Sergei almost laughed when he saw the look on her face. She looked like she expected him to give her the same verbal beating he gave William. Then again, he could hardly blame her. He did get carried away back there. It was something of a habit whenever Eurasia was mentioned. Fortunately for her, Sergei had no intention of arguing with her. There were other matters he wanted to discuss. "That was a very brave thing you did, Captain Ramius. Standing up against Sutherland is not something most people would do."

"Excuse me? What are you talking about?" Murrue frowned at him, trying to understand what he was talking about. "Do you mean my thoughts about the information exchange? … That was hardly me making a stand. I was just saying what I meant; I had no intention of opposing him."

"Yet you did. It might not look like much to you, but to him it was a whole different matter. You practically betrayed him, made him look weak by questioning him when he needed your obedience … I know why he wanted you to be here. It wasn't because he needed your opinion. The reason for your presence was the same as those Captains he brought with him."

"A show of force in order to intimidate you." Murrue said with a heavy heart, filled with disgust. She had already suspected that her role had been intended as that of an obedient lackey behind William's back. Sergei's words only proved her suspicions. She had been used in William's political games in order to further his own agenda. Something which made her feel defiled and ashamed. "I apologize for that, I had no…" Her apology was cut off when Sergei raised his hand.

"I understand. I can see the regret in your eyes. You were merely a pawn in his game." Sergei said and sat down on a nearby folding chair with a heavy sigh. He removed his officer's cap and stared at the OMNI Enforcer's insignia before tossing it onto the table. "And it is because of that why we're having this conversation … As I already mentioned your statement was a foolish thing to do. Yes, I know you merely stated your opinion, but I'm afraid you're not aware of the possible consequences it might have."

Murrue blinked a few times. "Consequences? For what! A few words?"

"Precisely. To William it's not the degree of your actions that counts, but the fact that such action took place at all that counts … Now, obviously he won't do anything, at least not now and certainly not openly, since you haven't done anything wrong. Officially. You merely stated an opinion, something that can't be punished, in most cases. However, if I know William, he will consider this a personal insult and will strike back. Most likely he'll use his connections to strike at you indirectly. "

Murrue felt as if the world had been pulled out from underneath her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Would William really try to seek vengeance for one, little statement? It was preposterous! The Alliance High Command wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. There was no way William could have that kind of power, right? It just didn't seem real. "You can't be serious! He wouldn't do such a thing! The High Command will not allow it to happen!"

Sergei gave her a sympathetic look. "Captain, I know it's hard to believe, but that is the truth. The Alliance High Command is much different from what they tell you at the Academy. A lot of officers are guided by politics rather than a sense of duty. Money, personal power and connections is what matters today, whereas loyalty, honor and discipline are slowly cast aside … This alliance, this Earth Alliance is rotten, corrupted. It has become a tool for the rich and powerful, a giant scheme, in which the little gears, people like us, have little chance of changing anything."

"It can't be true! It can't!" Murrue's voice was almost pleading. "They can't all be like that! There must be decent people as well. People like Admiral Halberton who…"

"It was Halberton's death that marked the beginning of the true descent into darkness." Sergei spoke up in a heartfelt voice. "He was the main reason why this corruption was so slow to spread. He was the main force that stood against the influence of Blue Cosmos. However, when he died there was no one else powerful enough to stand against Blue Cosmos. Ever since his death, Blue Cosmos's influence has spread through the ranks of High Command like wildfire and has reached a point where Blue Cosmos is practically in charge of the entire Alliance." He watched Murrue sit down on a folding chair, her hands in front of her face as she struggled to comprehend Sergei's words and the situation she was in. His heart went out to her. Murrue was a fine Captain, he could sense it, and she had great potential inside her, one that would allow her to achieve great things in her career, if not for that single comment, that one slip of the tongue. It was rare for him to feel like this for someone who was from the Atlantic Federation, that nation of parasites. Then again, Murrue had fought alongside him and had done so admirably. Her pilots had also managed to defeat a large number of enemy Mobile Suits who would have otherwise ripped his own forces into pieces. So perhaps she was different. Hell, she was different! And she certainly did not deserve to become a target for William's petty revenge!

Sergei rubbed his forehead and glanced at his men, who instantly either left the tent of put on their headphones so that they couldn't hear a thing he said. "I know how you feel. I have been in a similar situation myself and it pains me to see such a fate befall an officer like you … You did helped me and my men today, without you we would have been defeated. As a result, allow me to help you. I might not have the amount of influence like our dear friend William, but I know a couple of people and I will do anything in my power to make sure that bastard can't touch you."

"What? Why?"

Sergei smiled at Murrue's dumbfounded expression. "Perhaps I have become senile, but I like you. You have great potential inside you and you're a good person as well. It would be a shame if all that potential got wasted because someone had a little ego problem. A person should not be condemned because of their opinions."

"Thank you, sir." The expression on Murrue's face was full of relief; however, Sergei noticed that there was still a fair amount of concern inside her. She wasn't fully certain of his ability to protect her. Good. She was learning not to rely on false hope too much.

"One more thing. A word of advice, actually." Sergei stood up and retrieved his cap, while Murrue rose from the chair across the table. "Sooner or later what I said about Eurasia will become truth. A time of change will be upon us. I don't know when it will happen, but it will happen. If, or rather when it will happen, you would do well to consider where you stand on the scheme of things. Loyalties, as well as ideals might shift and change and today's enemies might be your future allies … I'm not trying to persuade you to join my side that is not my place. I just want you to consider which side is your side and whether it deserves your loyalty. And if you, by any chance, decide that Eurasia is worthy of your service, I would be honored to have such a fine officer like you at my side." He finished and saluted Murrue, who was caught completely off guard by the gesture. Usually it was the lower rank who initiated the salute, since it was meant as a sigh of respect for authority. For a higher rank to do so for a lower rank, it was considered a sign of great honor, especially if it was practically only the two of them at the table.

Murrue returned the salute and soon found herself outside, walking towards where the transport was waiting for her. Her feet moved on their own accord without her realizing it, in fact, most of her body was moving on autopilot as she replayed the conversation in her mind. The whole experience had offered her a look into the dark underbelly of the power struggle that went on behind the scenes and perhaps for the first time Murrue started to wonder who her allies were and who were her enemies.

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**A/N** - Such a nice chapter, wasn't it? Anyway, I guess you noticed that I took a slightly different path with Kira. Yes, he has been captured by ZAFT and will end up in PLANTs ... probably.

Now, some of you might ask, why didn't I use the method used in the series? The whole "Strike blows up, Kira wakes up in PLANTs" approach. The answer is simple. I have absolutely no idea, much less an explanation on how Kira survived that blast, much less ended up in PLANTs. And since I had no way of figuring it out, I decided to take a slightly different path. I hope you liked it.

- Asmus.


	32. Tending Wounds

Okay, before we begin, there's something I want to tell you. The reason why it took me so long to update is that this is the first time I'm dealing with the romance aspect of writing, at least on a more deeper level than previously. As a result it takes me a lot longer to write romantic scenes, since I don't feel fully comfortable with them ... yet. I had to rewrite large sections of the chapter several times until I was more or less satisfied. How good or bad it is, that's for you to judge.

Lastly, I think this chapter will also answer at least one question some of you have asked me, so read on and find out the answer.

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„Let's see. Two millimeter deviation from the norm. Acceptable … temperature, good … amount of oil, okay for now. I'll probably have to add a bit more in a minute … spices, check … cheese … nine point two millimeters, a bit too short, but well within limits … so far looks like I'm ready to go." Jack muttered and poured the omelet onto the hot frying pan. He then added almost perfectly shaped small cubes of sausage and onions, making sure the ingredients were spread out evenly. Nothing ruined an omelet as having ingredients bunch up in random clusters, preventing the taste from spreading out properly. Almost instantly he noticed that he had not achieved an even spread and went to work with the spatula to correct it. He worked with quick, practiced movements and soon achieved a perfect coverage. It was about time already. Leaving the omelet open like this was a good way to ruin its perfection, so he quickly put the lid on the pan and left it to cook slowly. With a few minutes to spare, Jack shifted his attention to the next frying pan, where the second part of his breakfast was cooking. A few more prods with the spatula made sure that the two eggs retained their rectangular shape and also maneuvered the two slices of bread into a position where the cooking oil would not reach them. Bread and oil did not mix, since the bread acted like a sponge and absorbed all the oil that got near it. Eating bread like that felt like drinking pure oil. Disgusting. When he saw that the repositioning did not change the situation, Jack used one of the many pieces of bacon to block the oil's flow. A satisfied smirk settled on Jack's face when he saw that the situation was stable, for now.

He leaned against a nearby sink and made a quick look around the galley. It was pretty large, considering that it was located on a ship. Smaller than the one he was used to work in, but more than big enough to be comfortable. Part of the spaciousness stemmed from the fact that there weren't that many people aboard the Archangel. The ship, which was already designed to require a relatively small crew, was already run by what was pretty much a skeleton crew, thus giving everyone a lot of room. Jack exchanged a quick nod with Arthur, the Archangel's Chief Culinary Specialist, as the older man walked by on one of his inspections. Usually a person like Jack would not be allowed in the ship's galley, since he wasn't part of the crew, however, Jack and Arthur had an agreement. In exchange for a couple of recipes and a little help now and then, Arthur allowed Jack to cook his own meals, as long as he didn't bother others too much or didn't make a big mess. That last part was slightly offending, beginners messed things up, masters created art, and as far as Jack was concerned he was one hell of an artist. Jack followed Arthur with his eyes and glanced at the other members of the galley's staff. The other Culinary Specialists were already cleaning up and administrating the last touches to the breakfast. It was about time already, a quick glance at the clock told Jack it wouldn't be long until the first crewmembers arrived.

A small grin settled on Jack's lips when he glanced at the several trays, already full of food and ready for pickup. Arthur had a habit of preparing a few trays even before the crew arrived, therefore the early arrivals could get pre-prepared breakfast and speed up the serving process, thus making the line go faster. For such a small crew the galley got pretty crowded whenever it was time to eat. Jack looked at one tray in particular and his grin grew even wider._ Yeah, come and get your meal._ Working in the galley provided Jack with the opportunity to work on his revenge scheme – putting crushed glass into the meals of three crewmembers that had beaten him up some time ago. This kind of approach was a slow one; the intestines were a bit too tough for them to be cut apart by a single dose of glass powder. It required constant input to succeed and took a lot of time, but in the end, it was a fine way to deal with people without getting caught. Even then it was a difficult process. He had to be careful about slipping glass into the meals and made sure the right people ate it. Spicing up everyone's meal would only increase the chances of Jack getting caught, so he had to be careful and accurate. Luckily for him, he had to deal with only one person, Frederick. The other two had died during the battle six days ago when the Archangel had taken a hit. With only one target on his list, Jack had enough time to observe his victim and had noticed a pattern in Frederic's eating habits. He was one of the first who got to the galley and he always took the same tray. It had been simplicity itself to spice the food on Frederic's tray. Of course, he had messed one or two times and someone else had eaten the special meal, but two out of four in the last days was good enough for Jack and he was feeling confident that today he would hit the mark as well.

Moving on autopilot, Jack added the spices and cheese to the omelet and checked up on the situation in the other pan. Things were looking good, in more ways than one. Despite the damage the Archangel had suffered in the fighting, they were only a few more days away from Panama, where his contract would end, and he would be free to form a new one. He was getting tired of having to spend his entire time aboard the ship. Hell, they hadn't even been attacked during their journey across the Pacific. Apparently, the five ship formation was too big for a causal attacker to attack, thus preventing Jack from getting some sort of entertainment. It was frustrating having to read the few magazines or watch the limited amount of movies over and over again. Hell, he had watched one of the movies so many times; he knew all the lines by heart. Sure, the characters in that movie didn't talk much and spent most of the time shooting big guns and blowing stuff up, but that was besides the point. He was bored and the sooner he got off this ship, the better. However, now that some time to think and gather some info, perhaps things weren't looking that good at all; Earth didn't look to be as promising as Utopia had been.

Earth was very different from Utopia, even on the most basic level. Whereas Utopia was mostly a desert, Earth was mostly covered by water. That in itself made things difficult for Ravens. They didn't have the ability to move across the entire planet without assistance. Even though ACs could fly for a brief time, it was nowhere near enough to cross an ocean. Anyone who would attempt to do so would most likely end up on the bottom of the ocean and would be labeled as the biggest idiot of all time. Even if they did manage to bypass this obstacle, there was another, a much greater problem to consider. Unlike Utopia, Earth was united. Sure, there were a lot of nations out there, each with their own interests, but it hardly mattered when there were no neutral zones. No place for a wanted Raven to hide, at least for a Raven who wanted to hide and be able to make repairs, get supplied and obtain information. Almost everything belonged to one power block or another, and the few locations that didn't belong to a major player were useless to a Raven. So far it seemed that there were only two, possible choices, either join up with a faction and get all the support you need, or stay independent and have a good luck staying alive. This was a major problem to a free spirited Raven like Jack. He loved the possibility to pick a client, to consider various pros and cons of a particular contract. Choices were a wonderful thing. The same thing one lost upon picking a side.

Of course he could always hope that Global Cortex would step in to sort things out. Global Cortex was a corporation that pretty much governed all Ravens and acted as a mediator between Ravens and people who wanted to hire them. Though some Ravens refused to submit to the corporation's control, many, including Jack, were more than happy to let Global Cortex run things. The deal was actually pretty sweet. For a small cut of the reward, the corporation provided safe houses where Ravens could hide and repair their ACs. Global Cortex also provided contacts and informed Ravens of new contracts that were available. Lastly, the corporation also sold various AC parts and weapons, manufactured by the grand corporations, allowing Ravens to upgrade and customize their ACs. Life under Global Cortex had been nice and comfy. However, despite how much Jack wished for Global Cortex to set up shop on Earth, some part of him wondered if that was even possible. Global Cortex had also suffered during the journey from Utopia to Earth, losing most of its resources and personnel, so it lacked the necessary muscle required to compete with corporations that were already on Earth. Though Jack hadn't heard anything about the existence of a corporation whose purpose was similar to Global Cortex, he knew that it wouldn't take long for Earth to come up with their own version of Global Cortex. On the other hand, perhaps that wasn't a bad thing? If Earth created a mercenary governing corporation, perhaps they would offer even better terms? Sure it was a longshot, but there was no reason to dismiss such a possibility. If so, then things weren't that bad at all. He only had to wait and see what happened. In the meantime Jack decided to make the best of his situation and accept almost every contract he was given.

Jack was about to add the finishing touches to his breakfast when a sudden movement by the galley's entrance caught his attention. _Good morning Fred._ Jack grinned and glanced at the entrance. His grin slowly disappeared when he saw it wasn't Frederick. It was Flay, the redhead who had told him a lot about Earth and its politics. He looked at her for slightly longer than he had intended before returning his attention back to cooking. He couldn't help it; Flay was a very attractive girl, easy on the eyes and pleasant to look at. Especially her hair, redheads had always managed to catch Jack's attention regardless of circumstances. As a result, Jack wasn't surprised to find himself sneaking quick glances at her now and then. It was during one such glance that Flay noticed him and started walking in his direction with a slightly surprised look on her face.

"Jack? What are you doing there?" Flay asked once she was within easy speaking distance. "I didn't know you worked in the galley."

"More like helping out a bit. In return they let me cook my own meals." Jack explained with a shrug and added a bit more salt to the omelet. He felt her observe him for a moment before walking off towards where the several pre-prepared trays were located. Jack watched her go and soon felt his appreciation change into horror when he saw that Flay reaching out to take the tray Jack had prepared for Frederic. "Hey, wait!" He blurted without thinking. When the girl turned around, time seemed to stop, as he considered the possibilities. One thing was certain, he could not allow Flay to pick Frederic's tray, because that would ruin the plan. Jack was already on a tight schedule to feed a lethal amount glass to Frederic before they reached Panama. Only a set amount of glass would be enough to cut the intestines, anything less wouldn't be fatal and the guy would survive which was unacceptable. Another possibility was to let Flay eat the glass infused meal and take his chances with dinner or lunch, but he didn't know about Frederic's eating habits during those mealtimes so it would be hard to achieve. Besides, he had already called out to Flay. Asking her to take a different tray or not saying anything at all would raise suspicions. Hell, he couldn't even kill her or otherwise dispose of her, because there were witnesses and if he tried to take them all out, he might as well kiss his plan goodbye. His mind desperately running out of options Jack suddenly realized that the answer was right in front of him.

"Wait, don't eat that. I have something better." Jack said and started working with the spatula, cutting the omelet in half. "Something you'll enjoy a lot more and has been prepared by a true master."

Flay cast a doubtful look at him, surprised by the sudden offer and then looked at the trays behind her. Part of her wanted to take the tray with the delicious looking food she had picked earlier and enjoy her breakfast immediately, since Jack seemed to be busy making small adjustments to whatever he was cooking. On the other hand, she had heard the rumors about how delicious food prepared by Jack was. Rumors, which were most likely true, considering the appetizing aroma in the air. Eventually she gave in and decided to give Jack a chance. "Okay. What have you made?"

"Truth be told it's nothing fancy. It's only breakfast, after all." Jack replied and opened one of the shelves to get a few dishes. Flay eyed the action with a slightly worried look. Usually when in gravity, dishes, especially the nice ones Jack had taken, were reserved for officers. Everyone else used trays. In fact, even Murrue, Mu, Natarle and Maria preferred to use trays since it was easier and quicker. Her eyes grew even wider when Jack started pulling out eating utensils from the same shelf, obviously not caring about what they were intended for. However, all her worries were banished when Jack placed a delicious looking piece of omelet on one of the dishes. He then folded it in neat half and added a few slices of tomato, a bit of spring onions, and finished it by pouring a bit of whitish sauce Flay could not identify onto the omelet. "There. Like I said, nothing fancy, but should be enough." Jack placed the meal on a tray, along with a fork, wrapped in a napkin before placing the tray on the counter where Flay could reach it. "Want something to drink? They have a really good orange juice in the fridge." He turned around and went to get it before Flay could say a word.

Instead, she eyed the omelet with a stunned look. The meal looked excellent, far better than anything she expected to receive from the Archangel's galley. The meal was arranged on the plate in such a way, it reminded her of the high class restaurants she and her father often went to. The visual appearance, the aroma, the garnish even the way everything was arranged on the dish made it hard not to gulp everything down then and there. She took another smell of the meal and was forced to swallow when her stomach growled. It smelled good, very good. "Thanks." She said when Jack returned and placed a tall glass of ice cold orange juice on the tray. She lifted the tray, careful not to drop anything, and went towards the nearest table. Her ability to carry trays with food and dishes on them left plenty to be desired and she didn't want to risk it. Only when the tray was on the table, did she relax.

Flay was about to take the dish off the tray and onto the table, when she saw a large, dark blue coat lying on the table and not leaving much room for anything else. It took only a second to realize that the coat belonged to Jack. After all she had seen him wearing it plenty of times. Truth be told she had been a bit surprised to see Jack without the coat. Then again, it made sense; the coat would make it hard to move around while preparing food. Not wanting to risk dropping anything, Flay grabbed the coat in order to hang it on the backrest of a nearby chair. What surprised her was the weight of the coat. The thick fabric seemed to be heavy enough on its own, but judging how the weight was distributed Flay realized it wasn't just the fabric that was heavy, she was fairly sure there was something heavy in the pockets as well. Something, or some things which added a couple of kilos to the weight. "What's with the weight?" Flay hung the coat using a lot more effort than she had intended. "Feels like you're carrying lead in the pockets."

"Not lead. Just a couple of basic necessities. You never know what kind of problems you will run into." Jack provided with a suspicious glance even as he quickly transferred the remaining food from the frying pans onto a pair of dishes. When it was done, he turned off the power and quickly cleaned up whatever little mess he had made. It took him barely a minute to do so and soon enough he was carrying his own tray towards the table Flay had occupied.

"Looks tasty." Flay commented as she sat down. She politely waited for Jack to unload his meal from the tray and sit down before starting to eat. As it turned out the omelet wasn't good. It was excellent. It tasted even better than it looked. Flay couldn't remember the last time she had something this good to eat. She took another bite, savoring the taste and the juicy texture. "Wow. This is really good … delicious. I had no idea you could cook such a fine meal. It's amazing."

"I know." Jack grinned widely as he took in the compliments. He took a large bite himself. "Thing is, this wasn't much of a challenge. It's an omelet, there isn't anything complicated about it … Now if I was in the mood and had all the necessary ingredients I could whip up something really good. I wonder what you would say then."

"Where did you learn to cook like that? Your parents taught you?"

"Not really. Didn't have any real parents, lived with foster-parents for most of my life. The guy who was supposed to be my dad owned a restaurant, quite an achievement considering all the crap that was going on. Either way I watched him in action, read a couple of books and eventually started doing it myself. Turned out I had a real knack for cooking and it didn't take long for me to become just as good, if not better than him."

"That's amazing." Flay commented before circling in on the little factoid she'd picked up. "You say you didn't have any real parents. What happened to them?"

Jack shrugged indifferently. "Don't know, don't care. The folks I lived with never bothered to tell me, and I never bothered to ask. Besides, what's the point? I managed pretty well without them."

"I see." Flay said in a voice that spoke of the opposite, but decided to drop it. Plainly Jack had no desire of discussing the issue with her. "Anyway, what else can you make?"

"What else can I make?" Jack gave her a level look. "I think you phrased the question wrong. Ask me what I can't make, the list will be shorter. I can make pretty much anything. If I can't prepare some kind of a meal, it means I haven't heard about it. Once I know about it, give me a few tries and I'll be more than capable of cooking it." He proudly declared.

Flay arched her eyebrows and smiled. "You know, you sound very confident about yourself."

"Only because it's true. When it comes to cooking food, I'm a genius. No reason for false modesty." Jack replied with a cocky grin that made Flay laugh a little and almost choke on her omelet. She coughed several times and drank her juice to clear the throat.

"Yes, I certainly can't accuse you of being humble." Flay watched with astonishment as Jack finished his omelet with a few, quick bites before moving on to his second meal. "How can you eat so much? I ate only half of what you gave me and I'm already almost full."

Jack shot a disbelieving look at Flay, then at her plate, then at her gain. "Full? From that? You can't be serious! That's little more than an appetizer." He paused for a moment while his eyes examined as much of Flay's body as he could see. It wasn't a lecherous look, despite the faint trace of appreciation Flay saw in Jack's eyes. Instead his look was more like that of a person evaluating the physical build of another person. "Though I admit, there might be some truth to what you say. You do look a little on the … fragile side."

"Fragile?"

"Too thin, kind of like those fashion models you see on the magazines." Jack corrected, paying absolutely no attention to Flay's scowl. "The point is. I tend to get very hungry, so I eat a lot. Therefore I often cook my meals accordingly. You probably aren't used to eating so much, so it's no wonder you feel full already. Besides, to answer your question. I'm a growing boy; my body needs a lot of fuel to maintain its peak physical condition." Jack spread his arms and leaned back slightly, offering Flay a better look at his body, whilst maintaining a cocky grin. Flay could not help to chuckle a bit upon hearing Jack's answer. He was so stereotypically narcissistic, yet at the same time funny. Still, there was some truth in Jack's words. He truly was in excellent physical shape. Unlike Kira, Jack wasn't the wiry type, he reminded Flay more of that bodyguard who had accompanied Cagalli aboard the Archangel. Tall, a little under 180 centimeters, with broad shoulders, wide chest and thick arms. There was certainly a lot of strength and muscle packed in there. Flay was forced to take a deep breath when she realized her eyes were wondering. She shifted her eyes away from Jack and focused on the remaining omelet in her plate. "Aww, did the attractiveness of my body made you feel uncomfortable? Don't worry your reaction is just as same as that of every other girl I've met." Jack teased her. "At least I like to think so."

He last comment made Flay smile again. Jack's comments always made her smile. He never failed to make her feel a lot better. That was one of the reasons Flay enjoyed his company so much and often sought it out during these last few days. Though their conversations often revolved around Jack milking her for information about Earth or just making small talk, Flay never got tired of them. Quite the contrary, she enjoyed them a great deal, because they helped her forget about her own worries. Flay felt so comfortable, so at ease when talking to Jack, she felt like a different person. However, sooner or later their conversations would end and they would go their separate ways. And it was in those moments when Flay was alone, when a small voice started crying at the back of her mind. No matter how much Flay tried not to think about it, she still cared for Kira. She was still worried about what was happening to him. After all, it was partially her fault that Kira had been captured by ZAFT and the guilt was eating her up. Even when she told herself that Kira had been nothing but a tool of vengeance, the guilt would not go away. However, as Flay soon found out, the more time she spent in Jack's company, the more silent the voice would become. He was like a nurturing balm that eased all her pains and made most of her worries disappear. As a result, Flay sought Jack's company not only because of enjoyment, but also for the sake of being at ease.

Flay was about to reply to Jack's comment, when they both heard voices in the hallway outside the galley. From the sound of it, there was a group of people heading in their direction, most likely the first group of the Archangel's crew coming to get their breakfast. It was nothing out of the ordinary, considering the time of the day; she dismissed the fact as inconsequential. However, Flay could not fail to notice Jack's reaction to the approaching crewmembers. Outwardly he looked relaxed and completely calm, eating his breakfast without a care in the world. However, given the close proximity, Flay noticed that Jack's mind was anything but peaceful. His entire attention was focused on the approaching group. Flay's observations turned out to be true, when a group of four crewmembers entered the galley. She saw Jack throw a quick glance at one of the young men, a tall, albeit skinny fair-haired man with a thin mustache gracing his upper lip, before he went back to eating his breakfast, his attention still, fully upon the tall mechanic, judging from the tightly clenched fist around the fork and the near-automatic movements of his hands. Not wanting to interrupt something very serious that seemed to be going on, Flay looked up, just in time to see the blond mechanic look in their direction, sending a dark glare at Jack's back. That was all the proof Flay needed; there was definitely tension between Jack and the mechanic. Though she had no idea what it was, Flay was certain it wasn't anything pleasant. Intrigued, Flay followed the mechanic with her eyes, as he walked over to where the food trays were located. What she did not notice was that Jack was looking at her eyes in order to determine where the mechanic was heading, since he was sitting with his back facing the group of crewmembers. Flay watched the mechanic take the tray she would have picked a few minutes ago. That is, if Jack hadn't decided to offer her part of his own breakfast, something Flay was very glad about, since the food, prepared for the rest of the crew was nowhere near the level of what Jack had given her. Flay shook her head slowly as she contemplated what she would have missed if she had picked that tray.

The sound of a metallic object hitting the floor interrupted Flay's observations and drew her attention towards Jack, who was leaning down to pick up his fork. "Oops, dropped my fork." He twirled the fork in his fingers as he rose up from underneath the table. He used one of the napkins to wipe it clean, before returning to his meal. Flay watched him with a slight puzzlement on her face. For some reason, there was something wrong about the small accident. It felt like it was no accident and that Jack had intentionally dropped the fork. The slight twitch of the corners of Jack's mouth didn't help matters at all. That and the sudden loss of tension in his body. Something was going on here, but she couldn't place her finger on it.

"What was that all about? With the fork." Flay asked when her curiousness grew too big. Jack gave her an innocent look, but Flay was not fooled, he was hiding something.

"What do you mean?"

"You dropped the fork, yet it didn't look like an accident. It looked like you did it on purpose." Flay said in a quiet voice. She had no idea why she was lowering her voice to a near-conspiratorial tone.

Jack glanced at the fork, then back at her. He remained quiet for a few moments, before letting out a deep sigh. "Listen, Flay. I know you're curious, but before we continue, ask yourself this. Do you really want your question answered? Do you really want to know why I did it? Assuming I did drop the fork on purpose." He said it in a very calm tone. However, the part that stood out the most was the sincerity in his voice. It sounded like a very innocent question, as innocent as one could get.

"Ye…" Flay instantly replied, but changed her mind in mid word when she realized that the question was the very opposite of innocent and held a much deeper meaning than she thought. Flay asked herself the same question Jack had asked her. It didn't take long for her to realize that she didn't want to hear the answer. Was it really that important? Who cared if Jack had dropped that fork on purpose or not? What would she gain from knowing the answer? Hell, the entire meaning behind Jack's question was to tell her that no matter the subject, and no matter how comfortable they felt with each other, there was always a limit. A limit to how far he would allow her to enter his mind, a line that she should not cross. Flay smiled when she realized the true meaning of Jack's question. There were some questions that should not be answered, and that was okay with her, because it only made sense that Jack would have something to hide, just as she had something to hide herself. "No, Jack. I have no need for an answer." She said in that completely open tone Jack had used a moment ago.

"Good." Jack nodded in response, before pointing at Flay's dish. "Eat before it gets too cold. You won't like it when it's cold."

"Thanks." Flay said and went to finish what was left of her omelet. They continued to eat in silence. However, this silence was different from the uncomfortable type that settled down when neither participant of the conversation knew what to say. To Flay, this silence was a comfortable one. It was serenity. Just like before, all her worries faded into background, though this time, Flay didn't need any words to distract her mind from them. This time, just being near Jack, and that carefree aura he seemed to emit, was enough for her.

xxxxx

Mu took a deep, steady breath and slowly pulled the trigger. The handgun recoiled in his hands as it sent a round downrange at the target. A smoking brass casing jumped out of the firing chamber and sailed, spinning, through the air before joining several other empty casings on the floor. A second later another gunshot sounded across the room, then another, and another as Mu continued to fire his gun at a steady pace, sending round after round towards the target. He adjusted his aim after each shot, making sure to place his shots as tightly as he could, while maintaining a relatively fast rate of fire at the same time. It was important to find a balance between accuracy and rate of fire, at least that's what he'd been told during basic training. Fire too quickly and you'd be lucky to hit your target. Take too much time aiming and the enemy would kill you. Fortunately for Mu, he was in no danger of being killed by his target, since it was nothing more than a holographic image of a human shaped target. Various motion sensors located in the large frame around the target, helped Mu track his progress and displayed all hits as glowing dots. So far his progress could be better, the grouping of his shots wasn't as tight as he expected. Then again, considering that Mu had never been much of a firearms expert, it was no surprise.

When the gun clicked empty, Mu engaged the safety and removed the magazine. He then pulled back the slide and checked the firing chamber, empty. Many would question the need to check the firing chamber when the weapon was obviously empty, but it was something of a habit that had stayed with Mu ever since basic training. You could never be too safe when dealing with firearms. The handgun he was holding in his hands was the Beller M7, the service pistol of Atlantic Federation Armed Forces. Though the original design of the gun was almost a century old, the Beller had proved itself as a very effective self-defense weapon during the devastating Reconstruction War and the conflicts that followed it. Sure, there had been some modifications over the years, but the basic design was still pretty much the same. The Beller was accurate, reliable and easy to maintain. It also had a fairly big ammunition capacity of eighteen rounds. Of course this made the Beller a bit heavier than other handguns, but the added weight was something people got used to very quick. Mu weighed the gunmetal grey weapon in his hand and noted that even when empty, the Beller's weight was still noticeable. The added weight was caused by the relatively heavy barrel and firing chamber of the gun and there was a good reason for that, since the Beller was designed to fire 9mm overpressure rounds. Unlike standard ammunition, overpressure ammunition sported a more powerful propellant for increased performance. The increased power meant the gun had to deal with greater forces than those from standard ammunition; as a result the barrel and firing chamber had to be reinforced in order to reduce wear and tear. On the upside, the increased weight of the gun also helped absorb some of the recoil, thus making the gun easier to control.

Mu put down the gun and took off the earmuffs. He then started reloading the three empty magazines that were lying on the small table next to him. During the process, he noted that the ammunition box was almost empty; he would have to get another one from the locker behind him if he wanted to continue practicing. For a moment, Mu considered to do exactly that, but after seeing the three empty boxes on the table, decided it was about time to call it a day. He had spent far more time one the firing range than he had originally intended. Usually he fired more or less a single box's amount of ammunition – fifty bullets. Using almost two hundred of them was a clear indicator that something was seriously wrong. Of course it didn't require a genius to figure out the reason for Mu's extended stay at the firing range. It helped him draw his thoughts away from Kira and Tolle and avoid visiting the gloomy part of his mind. One that would leave him miserable. Sure, Mu did feel sorry for them and mourned their loss, but he couldn't allow himself to descend into depression by constantly thinking about it. Keeping the gloomy thoughts out of the center of his mind was one way how he could get over it. Another way was the liquid magic in the bottle that helped forget most of the crap, but for obvious reasons Mu didn't even consider taking that path. Not again. Better to seek alternative methods of coping with his problems and if that meant shooting several extra rounds at the range, then it was a very small price to pay.

He was about to start loading the third and last magazine, when the doors behind him slid open. Upon hearing the distinctive hiss Mu turned around to see who else had decided to visit the range. His eyes went wide and he almost dropped the magazine when he saw Murrue entering the room. She was just about the last person aboard the entire Archangel Mu expected to see on the firing range. Maria, certainly. Jack, perhaps. Murrue … never. She didn't look like the type who visited firing ranges, unless it was absolutely necessary. It seemed to unreal, Mu seriously thought he was imagining things, but all his musings about the situation being only a figment of his imagination were banished when Murrue looked at him and greeted him with a faint smile and a nod of her head. "Good morning."

"Good morning. I'm surprised to see you here." Mu watched her take out a box of ammunition from the storage locker. "To be honest, you're the last person I expected to use the firing range."

Murrue walked over to the next stall and placed the box onto the table. "You're not the only one who is surprised. I didn't expect myself to be here at all. This is the first time I'm using this room." She replied and prepared for target practice. She pulled out her Beller from the holster and checked the safety, her fingers moving with unused clumsiness. Mu watched with slight interest as she removed the magazine, checked it and loaded it back into the gun.

"So why are you here then? I don't mind company, but I'm curious as to why you would suddenly decide to go shoot some targets?"

Murrue paused briefly. "I want to try something new. Something I haven't done in a long time and target practice sounded like an excellent choice. Besides, there are standards to maintain." Murrue said, somewhat elusively. With the gun checked, she took a pair of earmuffs and placed them over her ears. Once it was done, she activated the holographic target display and began shooting. Mu put his earmuffs back on and observed her in action with a deep frown on his face. The noise of the gunshots, coupled with the hearing protection, both his and Murrue's, prevented him from replying. However, he wasn't certain about what to say. One thing was certain; polishing her skills was the last thing on Murrue's mind right now. Her reply was more than enough for him to understand that Murrue was here for the same reason as he was. To keep her mind busy and avoid thinking about the actual issues. A quick glance on her stance only served to confirm his suspicions. The tension in her posture, the setting of her jaw, the white knuckled grip of the gun and the intense look in her eyes, everything told Mu that Murrue was indeed trying to work out the nasty emotions inside her. He considered pointing it out, but decided not to. Murrue was here for an important reason and it would be wrong to bother her.

With the magazine loaded, Mu resumed shooting as well. Only this time he focused more on keeping an eye on Murrue than trying to hit the target. He knew it wasn't polite, watching her out of the corner of the eye from time to time her like that, even if he did it inconspicuously, but he could not ignore her. He was concerned about her. She was still young, both in age and as an officer. Granted, he wasn't that much older himself, but there was a difference between them. Mu already had real battlefield experience and knew firsthand how horrible a war could be, whereas Murrue was far removed from the actual close-up fighting. In addition such a kind nature like hers was a major problem when dealing with casualties. She got attached to the crew; as a result, each casualty was a major emotional blow to her. Mu just hoped that shooting at targets would be enough for Murrue to get over it; he really didn't want to see her seeking solace in the bottle. She was far too good a person for that to happen to her. Eventually he decided to stop glancing at her now and then, and focus more on the shooting. Mu heard Murrue empty one magazine, reload, empty the second one, reload again and empty the last one. Afterwards her stall went silent. For a while Mu paid it no attention, assuming that Murrue was busy reloading the magazines. However, when he emptied his last magazine and still heard no gunshots coming from the stall on his right, his suspicions ignited again. Deciding that enough was enough; Mu lowered his gun and turned to see what Murrue was doing.

Murrue was quietly staring at the gun in her hands with an empty look, one of her thumbs slowly rubbing the side of the grip. The protective earmuffs were lying on the floor next to her feet. "Everything alright?" Mu asked when it became clear that Murrue's thoughts were far away. She must have been thinking really hard, since Mu had to repeat his question before she reacted.

The young woman made a sudden gasp and blinked a few times, before turning her attention to Mu. "Yes … I was just thinking about something."

"It's about the battle, right?" Mu more stated than asked. Murrue took another deep breath and eventually gave a very light nod.

"Yes." She placed her gun on the table and leaned against it a second later. "I can't keep it out of my head, no matter how much I try. I figured that doing something I haven't done in a very long time might help me, but it seems I was wrong."

"I bet it's the complete opposite."

Murrue could not help, but to agree. "The sound of gunshots makes it worse, they make the memories seem more intense." She noticed the understanding gaze Mu was giving her and before she knew it, Murrue could not keep her thoughts to herself. "I just feel do powerless. I feel like I should have done something to prevent my crew from suffering such casualties. Five people dead, nine are injured and one has been captured by the enemy. How could I let that happen?" Murrue ran both hands through her hair in a mix of frustration and sorrow.

"You could have avoided it by not participating in the battle and leaving all those Eurasians to their fates." Mu replied in a quiet, level voice. Before Murrue could say something, he spoke again. "Then again, you're certainly not the type of person who would do such a thing. Something I am really glad about."

"So you're saying that everything that happened was a good thing?"

Mu shook his head in denial. "No, you misunderstood. I'm glad that you're not the kind of person who would abandon others. Helping them out was the right thing to do."

"Yes, but at what price?" Murrue said distraughtly. "We lost some of our people!"

"Something that's impossible to avoid on a battlefield, no matter how much you try to avoid it. Did you expect to finish this war without any losses on our side?" Mu pointed out and crossed his arms across his chest.

Murrue considered that. "I don't know. I just…" Murrue fell silent when she realized how idealistic her thoughts had been. In some way she had indeed expected to avoid losing a single crewmember's life. Perhaps it was a foolish way to think, but that's how she wanted things to happen. Either that or she avoided thinking about it entirely. It just didn't sit well with her, having to acknowledge the fact that some of her subordinates might get injured or even lose their lives while following her orders. Even though she logically understood that it was impossible to avoid suffering casualties, her emotions were the problem. They didn't understand the cold logic; they did not want to understand it. Her emotions were a big part of her, and it was because of them that she felt responsible for the casualties among her crew.

Sensing her inner turmoil, Mu adopted a kinder voice. "Listen, Murrue, you're an excellent Captain. Certainly one of the best I've ever met … I mean, look at how far you brought us. Heliopolis, Artemis, the 8th Fleet, Africa, Indian Ocean, we've covered an immense distance without losing a single person. Sure, it was Kira, Daniel and even Jack who helped us do that, but they're not the only ones who made it happen. You also did a lot of work. You took care of the Archangel. Not Kira, not Daniel, not Jack. You. You are one of the people who got us this far. If that's not a sign of a great Captain then I don't know what is … However, even if you are an excellent Captain, you can't avoid losing people. No one can. Especially against the kind of enemies we've been up against. I know I'll sound harsh, but this was bound to happen, sooner or later. It's just that you were lucky, and skilled enough, to avoid it for so long. However, since it has happened, you have to move on. You have to put this behind you."

"I know … I know. It's just that it's so hard! I can't stop thinking about what I should have done differently. I can't stop thinking that some of what happened is my fault. I'm also not sure if I want to put them behind me. It'll feel like I'm forgetting about them, like I'm writing them off as useless pieces of equipment and moving on without a care in the world. I don't think I can do that." Murrue desperately hid her face behind her palms as if wanting to wipe off the depression that ruled her mind. As expected, it didn't work. "It is so hard."

"Things like these are always hard, Murrue. They always are. And they should be. That's what makes us human." Mu's serious voice came from nearby. Before Murrue could look up to see where he was, she felt herself being embraced in a warm hug. She was surprised at first, mildly shocked even, but the shock soon disappeared and was replaced by a warm, comfortable feeling. The pleasant sensation came from somewhere inside her, somewhere near her stomach, and it soon was washing throughout her entire body, engulfing her in a warm blanket of peacefulness. "It is when we casually dismiss the lost ones and instantly forget about them, we're no longer human. As long as you have that regret inside of you, you're a good person. I know I said to move on, but that does not mean that you should forget about them. Remember them, mourn them if you want, but remember to keep living your own life … As for the battle, and do not concern yourself about that. I know you doubt yourself regarding the choices you made and choices you could have made. But that's how it always is. We always see a hundred ways a situation could have been resolved once we're past it. It often feels like we've made the worst possible choice … trust me, I know how it feels. But don't blame yourself for your past choices. You worked with the knowledge and capabilities you had, and made the choice that seemed best at that moment. Sometimes it's a good one, sometimes bad, but no matter how much you think about it, you can't change it. The only thing we can change is the future." Mu slightly tightened his embrace around the young woman. Partially because of his wish to comfort her, partially because of his own memories of the choices he'd made. Life was full of unpleasant choices and bad decisions, but the key point was to learn from them and move forward, not bury oneself in depression and self-questioning.

"Thank you." Murrue whispered after a long moment of silence. Mu smiled and slowly rubbed her back with his hand to lessen the tension. He had no idea how much time had passed, could have been seconds, and could have been hours. He didn't care. As long as it brought some comfort to Murrue, it didn't matter how much he had to stand in one place. "You know that what we're doing is against regulations." Murrue said in a more relaxed voice, apparently she had found at least some sort of closure.

"Then push me away." Mu replied barely loud enough to hear. Mu heard a sudden gasp as Murrue tensed up again, but she did not move and remained completely still in his embrace. Then, slowly, her arms came up in an embrace of her own.

"No … at least not for some while."

xxxxx

With his upper back and shoulders burning in pain, Dearka tried to roll over to his side, but was unable to, due to his restraints, which made lying on his left side very uncomfortable. He could lie on his right side, but for an obvious reason, he didn't like the idea of sleeping with his injured back against the door. He was in a difficult situation already, no need to make things worse. Unable to find a comfortable position, he shook his restraints in frustration. It wasn't much, just a pair of plastic handcuffs and a thin cable, connecting the handcuffs to the nearby wall. The restraints were designed for just that purpose, to make sure a prisoner would not escape while receiving medical aid. And, as Dearka considered that, it turned out to be a perfect description for the situation he was in. An injured ZAFT pilot held aboard the Archangel in one of its sickbays.

Things hadn't been exactly good for him for the last days. Sure, he was alive; he had received medical aid and was allowed to stay in the sickbay instead of the brig, but all that meant nothing when his mind went back to that horrible almost a week ago. Over a time span of less than an hour, his life had turned upside down. Or rather, his view on life had been turned upside down. Up till then Dearka had believed in the certainty of their eventual victory. Sure, they would suffer a couple of minor setbacks, but eventually they would win and have the Strike lying on the ground in pieces. He had also believed in the superiority of ZAFT's Redcoats. Something he had the Academy to thank for. He, like many others had come to believe that those who wore the red uniform were invincible. They fought, attacked, killed, destroyed and generally kicked the Naturals' asses every day of the week, while suffering no casualties. Each Redcoat was constantly watched by dozens of guardian angels, shielding him or her from all harm. In retrospect, it had been a foolish assumption. Redcoats were just as vulnerable as anyone else, as Dearka's battle with the Dingo had showed him.

In truth, it hadn't been much of a battle. A one-sided massacre was a more apt term. Dearka couldn't recall much, but the few details he could, made his blood boil. His berserk attack on the Dingo had produced absolutely no results at all. The AC had dodged and evaded all of his shots. Not only that, but the pilot had mocked him the entire time, taunting and laughing through his AC's loudspeakers. The parody of the fight had lasted approximately five minutes, until the pilot of the Dingo had grown tired and had moved on the offensive. Dearka was a Redcoat, and a pretty skilled one. Sure, his skills in melee combat were far outclassed by those of Athrun and Yzak, but he had been able to hold his own against skilled opponents during his training. However, when the Dingo had moved to attack, Dearka had never felt so helpless. The AC had moved towards him quickly and nimbly, dodging Dearka's attacks all the way. He just wasn't used to fight such agile opponents. Once the AC had gotten close, a bright flash of the laser blade had marked the destruction of the Buster's beam cannon. By the time the thought had registered in Dearka's mind, the Dingo had executed the same maneuver he had attempted before. The AC had circled around him and had rammed its laser blade into the Buster's back.

Fortunately for Dearka, the blade had missed the cockpit; at least it had missed him. The blade had destroyed the main processing unit, located above the cockpit, taking the Buster completely out of the fight. On its way out the blade had entered the cockpit, but it had not made contact with him. Instead, Dearka had gotten off with a serious scare and several drops of molten metal and plastic on his shoulders and upper back. The pain had been excruciating, causing Dearka to howl in terrible agony as his shoulders were practically on fire. Miraculously, despite the situation he had managed to retain the presence of mind to grab the emergency extinguisher and apply it generously to his shoulders and back. Unfortunately, it hadn't made things any better. The mixture of various chemicals, rapidly cooling metal and raw burns, had kicked the pain level even higher. Up to the point where Dearka had passed out from pain.

He had no idea for how long he had been unconscious, but when he had woken up, it had been just in time to see the Buster's cockpit getting pried open by a small group of Alliance soldiers. For a moment Dearka had been certain that he would be shot on the spot, but he had been wrong. The Alliance soldiers had turned out to be an unusually merciful bunch and had instead taken him prisoner. They had even tended his wounds to the best of their abilities before transporting him to their main camp where he had been placed under guard in one of the tents until they figured out what to do with him. It hadn't been long before Dearka had been transported again. To the Archangel, nonetheless. The irony had been so obvious it was almost painful. Dearka had been trying to shoot down that ship for weeks without the slightest success, but the moment he was unable to do that, he was escorted onto the ship, as some sort of gift, if he'd understood the soldiers correctly. In the end he had ended up being held in one of the Archangel's sickbays, where a doctor had performed a more comprehensive medical aid.

Almost a week later and Dearka was still in the same room, except when he was escorted to the bathroom or to the shower. They fed him, gave him a place to sleep and generally left him pretty much alone until his wounds had healed enough for him to be transported to the brig, quite the contrary of what he had expected. Dearka jerked his restraints a few times, but eventually gave up. It was a useless effort; he had nowhere near enough strength to break out of his restraints. Besides, even if he did manage to break out, what could he possibly do? He was alone on a hostile warship. Dearka also had the suspicion that if he were to attempt to escape, his captors would not be so nice anymore. A much rougher treatment and a one way journey to the brig would be the most likely outcome. Whether he liked it or not, his only choice was to remain calm and play the model prisoner.

Unfortunately, whenever he left his mind free to wonder on its own, his thoughts would inevitably shift towards the recent memories seared into his brain. Dearka closed his eyes as the horrible events of that day once again flashed right in front of his eyes. Him and Nicol fighting the Dingo. Both being severely outmatched by their opponent. The dreaded feeling of helplessness that set in the moment he realized what kind of a situation he was in. Dearka saw the Blitz getting rushed by the Dingo, as the AC tried to hunt down the black Gundam. He saw Nicol fruitlessly attempting to ward off his attacker only to end up taking severe damage to his own machine. Dearka gritted his teeth as he vividly saw himself make the choice of firing the Buster's missiles in order to separate the two machines. Once again, the sight of the Dingo fluidly moving behind the Blitz and using it as a shield would not leave his mind. Then came the worst part. The execution. Dearka was barely able to hold back a pained sob, when he saw the Blitz once more cut apart by the Dingo's laser blade. From the memories of that day, the sight of Nicol's death was the one that haunted him the most. The crystal clear image, sharply defined down to the slightest detail, would linger in front of his mind whenever Dearka relaxed his thoughts. He couldn't even sleep normally anymore. Not without seeing Nicol's death repeat itself over and over again.

Dearka slowly opened his eyes, noting that his sight was a bit blurry from the few tears he'd shed during the reminiscence. "I am so sorry, Nicol … If only I hadn't fired those missiles … if only." He whispered softly, and took a deep breath. "Please … I'm so sorry … forgive me."

xxxxx

_Okay, one more._ Athrun thought and put thought into action by lowering his body past the two chairs his hands were placed on. He winced slightly as the guillotine push-up made his still-healing shoulders flare up in pain, but he gritted his teeth and continued on. Exercising his shoulders was the whole point of this part of the workout or else it would take a lot longer for him to regain his usual level of physical fitness. Besides, it wasn't like he was exercising to the point of exhaustion, quite the opposite. He wasn't even sweating. He was taking it slowly; the true intention was to simply reacquaint his shoulders, along with most of his upper body to exertion being placed upon them. Once he went as low as he could, Athrun used his hands to push himself back up, until his arms were straight. He maintained the position for a while before taking his feet off the side of his bed and placing them on the ground so he could stand up. Athrun flexed his arms and shoulders, then the rest of his body, easing it back into a more relaxed state, now that his morning exercises were over. He wasn't even sweating, since this had been little more than a simple wakeup exercise than anything serious. Still, regardless of how much exercise his body had gotten, Athrun made a note to take a shower sometime soon. So what if he wasn't sweaty? He still enjoyed the sensation of cleanliness a nice shower could offer.

With his exercises done, Athrun stretched himself in a leisurely fashion and glanced around his room, taking in his surroundings. His room was actually a cabin. A cabin, located in the officer's quarters aboard one of the transport ships that made up whatever was left of the fleet after the battle six days ago. Athrun's cabin featured a single bed, a desk with a computer on it, a pair of chairs, a small, walk-in closet in one of the walls and a few shelves and cabinets near the ceiling for whatever small things he had to place there. All considered, the room was pretty spartan, then again this was a ship, an old ship, so it wasn't that bad all things considered. Besides, Athrun was not the person who was bothered by the lack of luxurious comfort. As long as the room fulfilled the role it was designed to fulfill, it was fine with him. Athrun put on a white undershirt, wincing slightly when one of the sleeves placed a pressure on his bandage covered shoulders, at least until he corrected it. Athrun was just about to start looking for his boots when a chime from the direction of the door interrupted him.

"It's open. Enter." Athrun called while walking over to the desk, where his boots were lying on the ground next to the piece of furniture. The door to his cabin slid open and Athrun was surprised to see that the visitor was none other than Commander Carlos Elsman, Dearka's older brother. Carlos's relationship to Dearka was obvious to anyone who knew them both, due to their similar appearances. Carlos featured the same Mediterranean look his younger brother sported, though obviously his appearance was more mature, considering that he was 25. Tanned skin, very similar facial features, same stature, but taller, same color of the hair, though Carlos's were a bit shorter than Dearka's. The color of his eyes was also slightly different from Dearka's. Dark purple, instead of Dearka's lighter tone. Carlos was dressed, as always, in his white Commander's uniform. Perfectly pressed, flawlessly clean and in complete compliance with the protocol. In short, Carlos looked like the very embodiment of the image ZAFT always used in their propaganda films and recruitment posters. "Commander Elsman? What are you doing here?" Athrun could not hold back his surprise even as he straightened himself in order to salute the older man. It was an unconscious gesture, caused by the authoritative aura the man emitted.

"We're both of similar rank there is no need to salute me." Carlos replied calmly, though he did return the salute before stepping inside the room.

"I'm not exactly a real Commander. Commander Le Creuset simply placed me in command of his team while we deal with the Strike on our own." Athrun took one of the chairs and sat down so that he could put on his boots. He gestured at Carlos to use the other chair, but he refused and was content with merely standing behind the chair and resting his arms on the backrest.

"Official Commander or not, you are in charge of a ZAFT team, which makes you a Commander." Carlos replied. "Either way, to answer your original question, I came here to check up on you. I should have done it earlier, but these last few days have been a mess. Dealing with the aftermath of that regrettable battle is quite a chore." He studied Athrun for a brief moment, his face betraying absolutely no emotion. "I also came to deliver my condolences about the loss of your pilots."

Athrun paused in his attempt of pulling on his boot and sighed. "Thanks. It means a lot." He replied, feeling his mood take a dive for the worse. It still pained him to dwell on the loss of Nicol and Dearka, but he gritted his teeth as he pushed the tears back down. He had shed plenty of them several days ago when he had had enough time to consider the events of the battle. Though he still felt immense sorrow inside him whenever he thought about his two friends, Athrun was determined not to become a sobbing wreck. It wasn't easy; after all he had known them for a long time. Losing them felt like his heart had been torn open and had been jabbed with a red-hot poker. Athrun shook his head in order to prevent his sorrow from overwhelming him. In doing so, a sudden thought registered in his mind. "I'm sorry about your brother. Dearka was a good friend and an excellent pilot, and…" He was interrupted by Carlos's raised hand.

"Thank you for your condolences, but there is no need. I have already accepted his fate. What happened to my brother is nothing new to me. In war people die every day. There is nothing that can be done about it. All we can do is to accept that and move on."

Athrun's grief disappeared like it had never been there. Saying that he was shocked to hear that kind of an answer was an understatement. There was no way a person could brush off the loss of their sibling so casually. Athrun himself had no siblings, so he had no idea how it felt to lose one. Then again, he had lost his mother in the nuclear attack Junius Seven, therefore he was no stranger to the loss of someone very close. And if losing a sibling felt even half as bad as losing a mother then it was a terrible blow. And for Carlos to accept the loss of his brother so casually … it was beyond him. "Yes, but … but he's your brother. How can you talk about him like that?"

"I don't have to explain it to you. Suffice to say, we had some issues between us and that's that." The usual calm voice failed to maintain its composure and betrayed a slight amount of irritation, informing Athrun that Carlos definitely did not want to talk about it and any attempt to pry further would be a bad idea.

"Understood." Athrun admitted defeat.

"Good." Carlos studied him with a slightly curious look. "If so, perhaps you can answer a question for me. It's about one of your pilots. The mercenary. Juliet Thule was her name I think."

"What about her?"

Carlos paused for a moment, obviously composing his question before he laid it out. "I overheard some of the doctors talking and could not help to overhear a couple of interesting things about her. They were talking about the surgery they performed on her when she was brought in and it seems that during the operation they discovered something … interesting."

"Interesting? What?" Athrun urged the other man to continue.

Carlos flashed a knowing smile. "I didn't hear the specifics, but it seems that Juliet has received some kind of augmentations. Once again, I don't know any details, but they are very advanced, years, perhaps decades ahead of anything PLANTs currently have. Do you know anything about that?"

Athrun could only shake his head. "Augmentations?" This was new to him. "No. This is the first time I've heard about it."

"Interesting. I wonder what kind of other secrets she has?" Carlos mused idly, his eyes staring into distance for a while before he recalled himself back to the present and noticed the displeased frown on Athrun's face. Obviously Athrun was not pleased with his words, aimed at a person who was technically a member of his team. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking out loud … Don't look at me like that. We both know where she's from. The information she possesses might be invaluable. Especially when you consider what is going in the world."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you been living under a rock for the last few weeks?" Carlos asked in disbelief. At least until he realized that Athrun probably was not aware of the deals going on between PLANTs and Kisaragi, since he and his team had been hunting the Archangel for the entire time and did not have time to spare for anything else. "Why do you think we were sent after that AC? Why do you think we were requested to help you out at Marshall Islands instead of going to Alaska like we were supposed to? Why…"

"I know about the technology race. PLANTs and Alliance are desperate to get their hands on as much Utopian tech as they can. That's why we were sent there. To make sure that AC did not fall into Alliance's hands." Athrun pointed out with more than slight irritation.

Carlos sighed in relief and relaxed a bit, recollecting his previous composure. "Good. Thankfully you've been paying attention to what's going on. Still, I doubt you're fully aware of how serious this is. Granted, I don't believe I know all the details as well, but I do have my suspicions. Either way, the High Command will not be pleased when we return to Carpentaria without the captured AC. I know a couple of people who had a lot riding on a positive outcome. Denying them their prize won't end well."

"So what the hell do you suggest we do? Cut Juliet into pieces so that some scientists could take a look at her? Drag her out of her bed and interrogate her? Put her in a cage?" Athrun rose up from his chair, fists clenched tightly at his sides. It had been a long time since he had been worked up like this. However, he felt the situation fully warranted it. He simply could not take all this bullshit with a calm face. This was a person Carlos was talking about, not some kind of battlefield trophy for him to use. Athrun started to understand why Dearka had never said anything good about his brother.

"Well I wouldn't say it like that. It makes me sound like a monster. All I'm saying is we should be aware of all available sources of information and should strongly consider using them. I mean this is for the benefit of our people we're talking about. Getting very bit of information from her might save the lives of many people … The Alliance has already developed their own Mobile Suits. The technological gap between us and them is not as wide as it once was. Can you imagine what kind of weapons they will come up with once they examine that AC? We might become the side with inferior technology. We might lose our edge. Do you want that to happen? Do you want to place your needs and wants over those of your people?" Carlos pointed out calmly, though it was obvious his patience was running out. His argument did have a good point, the quicker ZAFT and PLANTs got their hands on Utopian technology, the better it would be. However, Athrun was not as gullible as he had once been. The night on that island with Cagalli, had left a few cracks in the idealistic walls of his mind. Patriotism alone was not enough to convince him anymore.

"I agree, as long as Juliet helps out willingly. We don't have any right to force her. Not if we want to become just like the Alliance." Athrun's green eyes, drilling into Carlos's dark purple. "And if that means we have to return to Carpentaria empty handed, then that's fine with me."

"Very well. I see that talking to you is a waste of time. I have to say I'm disappointed. I thought you were more like your father." Carlos said after a brief staring match. He got up from his chair and walked towards the exit until he reached the doorstep. He then stopped and half-turned towards Athrun. "Thing is, even though we don't have the AC, we're not returning empty handed. That battle did produce at least some sort of trophies for us."

"So that's your doing huh? Placing Kira under guard so no one can see him. He's your trophy, right?" Athrun kept his eyes locked on Carlos, working in a fair amount of built-up anger into his glare. He had been trying to see Kira ever since he had recovered enough to walk around. However, for some reason, the access to the brig was guarded by several soldiers, who seemed to be under orders not to let anyone inside. However, Athrun's glare lost most of its intensity when Carlos shook his head in denial.

"I was talking about the Strike. The pilot doesn't mean anything to me. At least nothing more than any other prisoner of war. And certainly not nearly as important as to warrant a twenty four hour guard. That order came from Carpentaria. As soon as they found out the identity of the Strike's pilot, they went almost insane and ordered the guy to be placed under guard …If I was in your place I would get my information right before throwing accusations left and right. Goodbye." Carlos replied and left the room before Athrun could say anything else.

Athrun remained standing in the middle of the room, desperately trying to figure out who could have given such an order, since, as far as Athrun knew, Kira had absolutely no ties to PLANTs, much less ZAFT.

xxxxx

Yzak held on to a nearby wall and gritted his teeth as a new wave of searing pain shot through his chest. He took a deep breath and almost immediately regretted it when the pain grew worse as the inhalation placed more strain on the wounds in his chest. Yzak leaned forward a little bit and nearly let out a painful groan when his stomach offered its own contribution to the effort of finding out how much pain Yzak could take until he decided to give up on his current task and returned to his cabin. The pain in his chest and stomach was nothing new to Yzak, in fact he had been expecting it. After all, considering the amount of shrapnel he took in his chest and stomach, plus the severe burns, the unpleasant sensation was a logical outcome. Even after six days, his wounds still felt fresh and raw. By all means, he should still be lying in the bed, at least that's what the doctor would prefer, however Yzak had other matters to take care of. Besides, even though he was disobeying his doctor, Yzak doubted the man would say anything. At least not to him.

Ever since Yzak had learned about Dearka's and Nicol's fates, he had resorted to his usual way of dealing with unpleasant news. Namely, he became angry and took it out on those who happened to be nearby. Obviously he didn't attack them physically; it would only result in him getting bound to his bead by restraints. Instead, he resorted to very honest replies and a kind pointing out of various flaws or problems. Eventually, by the time they decided to move Yzak to a single occupancy cabin, four nurses had experienced nervous breakdowns, one doctor refused to see him no matter what and one soldier had to be placed on sedatives in order to prevent him from attempting to murder Yzak in his bed. Not that the soldier would have succeeded even if allowed to try. Yzak was more than certain in his ability to take the guy on, despite the wounds. In the end, Yzak had been assigned only one doctor who took care of him, an old guy who seemed to be immune to the verbal abuse Yzak threw his way. As a result, the only thing Yzak could do was to either try and sleep or stew in his own anger. During those few times when all anger had been temporarily vented out of his body and he was too bored to brood, Yzak had done a bit of thinking and lately, a whole lot of worrying. Especially when it came to Juliet. The few times where Yzak had managed to tolerate Athrun's visits, he had learned that there were very little news on Juliet's condition. Athrun himself had been badly informed and had not been able to answer Yzak's questions. Eventually Yzak had gotten fed up and, the moment he was sure he could make it, had decided to go and check up on Juliet with his own eyes.

With the pain almost gone, Yzak resumed his journey towards the cabin where Juliet was supposed to be. A part of him wondered why he was so worried about her? After all, Juliet was very annoying at best and verbally brutal at worst. The girl seemed to have a natural talent to piss him off, regardless of what she did or said. Her mere presence was often enough to ruin his mood. So why the hell was he actually seeking her company, when he should have enjoyed the opportunity of not having to see or hear her? The obvious explanation was professional concern. Juliet had been badly wounded during the battle and Yzak supposed it was his duty to at least see her with his own eyes and banish the worries from his mind. Better a harsh truth than painful uncertainty. Of course, the other reason for wanting to see Juliet could be tied to that scream Yzak had heard during the battle. Recalling that horrifying shriek, a mixture of pain and terror, still brought shivers to him and sent a cold chill down Yzak's spine. That had been the first time he had heard a scream like that. The scream alone was bad enough, but hearing it coming from a girl … It made his blood boil and freeze at the same time.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of walking, Yzak rounded a corner and spotted the room where Juliet was supposed to be, assuming that nurse hadn't been lying to him. If she was, Yzak made a note to hunt her down and give her such a verbal beating she would jump into the ocean, with a brick tied to her neck. Now that he could see his destination, it wasn't that hard to make his way towards it. However, once he was next to the door and ready to enter, he froze. _What the hell am I doing? Why did I come here? To simply check up on her? Am I really ready to lose more of my nerve cells just to see if she's alright? What if she's not even awake? Or, what if she's not able to answer? That would be good, right? No, because that would mean there's something very wrong! Of sop, then WHY AM I SO FUCKING WORRIED ABOUT HER? This is just professional concern, right? Nothing more … right?_ A veritable tsunami of questions flooded his mind, threatening to overwhelm him on the spot. Fortunately, Yzak knew what to do in such a situation. Despite his mind screaming thousands of questions at him, Yzak forced himself to open the door and step inside. As expected, the questions disappeared like they had never been there, leaving behind a near-vacuum state, which allowed Yzak to calmly take in all the details of the room.

It was also a single occupancy room, designed for patients who needed as much peace and silence as one could get aboard a ship. A set of doors to his right led to a small bathroom, where the patient could take care of their hygienic needs without having to walk too far, assuming the patient was capable of using it. Further into the room, Yzak could see a life support system. Though it did look like it had seen recent use, it was moved away from the bed, since it was no longer necessary. In addition of a small nightstand and a single chair there were also a few cabinets, full of various medical equipment, no doubt. The only pieces of equipment that were in use, was an IV stand and a small display, showing the patient's vital signs. Finally, after he was done examining the room, Yzak's eyes fell on the person staring at him from the large bed.

When he saw Juliet, Yzak took a deep breath. The girl was fully awake, that was plain to see, otherwise she wouldn't be staring at him. In fact, Juliet was more than just awake, she was sitting in her bed, her back resting against the pillows, and holding what Yzak recognized as a digital reader in her left hand. Apparently she had been reading a book when he'd entered. However, what caused Yzak to gasp was the look on Juliet's face. There were dark lines underneath her eyes, made even more visible by the pale skin, which by itself was a big difference, considering that Juliet's skin usually featured a light tan. In addition, she also looked a bit thinner, as if she had lost a lot of strength recently. It was no surprise, considering the wounds she had suffered, but it was one thing to expect it and a whole different thing to see it with his own eyes. As far as actual wounds went, the cast on Juliet's right arm was the first thing he noticed, followed closely by thick bandages around her right shoulder, chest and stomach, evident even under the patient's garb she was wearing. However, the biggest difference that stood out above all others, one that overshadowed all other changes in Juliet's appearance, was her hair. Her black hair, usually done in a long braid, were now loose. Though Juliet had swept back her hair in order to have them at least partially where she was used to having them, the lack of a braid was a huge difference. It didn't take long for Yzak to realize that Juliet looked lovelier this way.

"Well? … If you're going to stand there, at least turn around so I can continue reading without someone staring at me." Juliet arched her eyebrows when Yzak didn't say a word.

Eventually, he managed to get his voice back. "Oh, I just wasn't sure whether I'm glad to see you're alive or pissed off because of having to listen to your bullshit again." Yzak replied with a sweet smile that was anything but. Apparently, unlike her body, Juliet's attitude had not suffered even slightly.

"Awww, that's so sweet. I really missed your… hey, hey! What are you doing! Use the fucking chair! That's what it's there for!"

Yzak sat down on the side of Juliet's bed and glared at the uncomfortable piece of furniture. "Fuck that! I'm not using it! It was hard enough for me to get here; I'm not torturing myself more than necessary." Yzak ignored the kick Juliet gave him as he shifted himself to get into a more comfortable position. The bed was just the right height; it would be very easy to get up from it later.

"Use the chair! It's my bed!" Juliet tried to kick him again, but Yzak caught her leg and held it down. She considered using her other leg, but the covers prevented her from gaining any sort of momentum, so she dismissed the idea. "So why are you here?"

"Surprising as it may be, but I'm here to check up on you. No one has been able to give me a clear answer, so I had to come here and check for myself … So, how are you feeling?" The look Juliet gave him was more than enough of an answer. "Ah, I see. Like you recently had one half of your body ripped open by a Mobile Suit's knife. Good. It means everything is just like it's supposed to be … What are you reading?" Yzak pointed at the digital reader.

Juliet placed the indicated item on the nightstand. "It's a science fiction story. About an insane psychic who uses nanomachines to turn everyone else on the planet into psychics. It's pretty good."

"Science fiction? No thanks, I try to stay away from that bullshit as far as I can."

"Your call. Anyway, now that you have checked up on me, what do you intend to do next? I kind of wanted to get some sleep, but it will be hard to do with you sitting here. So it would be really nice if you got your ass off my bed and went back to where you came from."

Yzak glared at the girl, but there was no true feeling inside the glare. He saw no reason to pick a fight with her. At least not now. "I'll go. Eventually. I just want to rest here for a little bit. Walking all that way is a bit of a chore." He admitted honestly. Juliet replied with an exasperated sigh, but didn't say anything. It looked like she also wasn't in the mood to argue. She studied him with slight curiosity for several minutes before deciding to break the silence.

"How are you holding up?" Yzak took a deep breath when he heard the question. For a moment, he had no idea what Juliet meant by that, but the doubt lasted only for a second. There was only one reason why would she ask him that. Apparently she knew about Dearka and Nicol and wanted to see if Yzak was alright. The more cautious side of him warned Yzak that this might be Juliet's way of trying to obtain some ammunition in order to poke fun at him for her taste in literature. However, a single look at her convinced Yzak that this time the question was as honest as it could get. Her golden-yellow eyes spoke of no selfish intentions behind the question. For the first time Juliet was genuinely concerned about him.

"How do you think I feel?" There was no true anger in his voice, at least none aimed at Juliet. "Of course I feel bad. I mean, we were together ever since the Academy, so it's obvious that losing them is a horrible thing to experience."

"You seem to be doing quite well."

"Mostly because I took it out on everyone nearby. At least until they stuffed me into a room where I am alone." Yzak managed a short chuckle. "But honestly speaking, what do you want me to do? Bawl my eyes out? Weep underneath the covers? Start punching walls until they tie me down? I'm not an idiot. Nothing I do is going to bring them back … Of course, there is also a chance I'm still in shock and eventually the full realization will sink in and cause me a great deal of problems."

"Wow, you're being awfully logical about it. It's the first time I see someone take such an analytical path."

Yzak shrugged. "Like I said, it could be the shock talking. I'm not really sure." He explained with a heavy sigh. He wasn't used to unburdening himself like this. Well, technically, it wasn't unburdening; it was more like explaining how he felt at the moment. Then again, it hardly mattered, since he wasn't used to opening up either. Either way, he was pleasantly surprised that talking about it did make him feel a bit better. Now there was a novel experience. Something to think about. However, novel experience or not, there was a limit to how much he was willing to open up. A limit that had already been reached. Especially when he realized that the longer he kept talking, the greater the chance Juliet would eventually start storing his words in her arsenal for her to use against him later. He didn't know why he knew it, but he knew. Just because Juliet was currently considerate, didn't mean it would stay that way for long. Just like Yzak, Juliet had a limited amount of patience for those kinds of things. They were similar in that regard. Either way, it was time to bring his short visit to an end. He stood up, wincing slightly when his stomach protested against the movement and took a few steps towards the door. "Anyway, I think I'll be going now. I did what I came here to do. More, in fact, so there's no reason for me to stay any longer."

"Wait a second. There's one thing I must take care of." Juliet said, while throwing cautious glances on both sides. "Come over here, I don't want anyone else to hear this." She beckoned Yzak to come closer.

"Why are you looking around like that? There's no one here. If you have to say something, say it."

"The walls have ears." Juliet replied half-serious, half-joking. Though the look in her eyes was completely serious. And uncomfortable as well. "Thing is, Athrun told me about what happened on that island a week ago. He told me you saved my life."

"So that's what this is about? You want to say thanks, but are too embarrassed to say it out loud?" Yzak's cocky grin was back in its proper place, along with a strong desire to needle Juliet even more. "I don't know. It's hard for me to walk all the way towards you. I'm afraid you'll have to speak loud enough for me to hear. Louder, actually, my hearing's suddenly not so good."

"Fuck you! And get over here!" Juliet hissed through her teeth, her old confrontational mood also back in action. "Owing you my life is embarrassing enough. I'm not humiliating myself any further by shouting it to you."

With a shake of his head, Yzak walked over to her, savoring every moment of it. He had a pretty good guess on how Juliet felt; she had her pride after all. Having her life saved by him, was probably the greatest humiliation in her life. "Well, I'm here and my hearing just got better, so I'm ready to hear what you have to say."

"Lean down! I have a reputation to uphold, so I can't risk even the slightest chance of someone overhearing this."

Yzak tried to lean down, but the pain from his wounds prevented him from doing that. So instead he sat down on the bed again and leaned towards Juliet until his head was right next to Juliet's. "Well?" He whispered. "This close enough for you?" Juliet took a deep breath and held it in for several moments. _That's right, savor the moment._

"Thank you, Yzak." Juliet said in a quiet voice. She then grabbed his chin and turned his head so that they were face to face. "Thank you for saving my life, Yzak." Juliet repeated and then, without a warning, she kissed him.

Juliet's lips were dry and slightly cracked, but they were also soft and very hot. The heat coming from her lips, felt like it was spreading throughout Yzak's entire body, consuming it and eliminating any sense of time. It banished every single thought from his mind, leaving behind a warm void. Yzak had no idea for how long his shocked eyes had been staring ahead without seeing anything, but he knew one thing. He enjoyed the sensation Juliet's lips gave him. It felt so good, so right, it almost scared him. He had no idea a kiss could feel that good. Perhaps all those couples back at the Academy had been on to something.

After what felt like an eternity, Juliet broke the kiss. She looked into Yzak's eyes and smiled, or rather, grinned. "There, a kiss from a beautiful girl. I think it's safe to say you enjoyed my thanks." It was a hit. A good one. Most men would have simply accepted the blow and nodded, their temporal vulnerability triumphing over the need for gaining the upper hand. However, Yzak was not most men. It took him a fraction of a second and a monstrous effort of will and pride, to make a counter blow.

"What? That's it? A single kiss for saving your life? I expected something more." Yzak made sure his voice was full of disappointment. He was full aware of the fact he was standing on a knife's edge, but it had to be done. If Juliet was the kind of person he strongly suspected she was, there was only one thing for her to do.

Juliet arched her eyebrows. "You know, it would sound a lot more convincing if you weren't blushing like that. Takes a lot of force out of your blow."

"Oh? Look who's talking! You're blushing as well! Besides this is nothing more than the reaction of my subconscious, I can't control it."

"Ah, it's so cute when you try to explain it like that. It just means you don't have any control over your body."

"So it's safe to say that the blush on your face is there because you want to?" Yzak pointed out with a vindictive grin.

"Um, no. It's just a momentary loss of control. It won't happen again." Juliet replied with a completely straight face, though her flushed cheeks kind of ruined it.

Yzak tilted his head slightly. "So, if I were to kiss you right now, you wouldn't be blushing?"

"That's right. Unlike you, I have full control over my…" Juliet began, but her words were cut off when Yzak kissed her. This time, the kiss was different. This time, it didn't make Yzak's mind go blank. Instead, it made him realize something very important. He liked Juliet. He liked her more than any other girl he had met in his life. He liked her because she was the only person who had the backbone to not just take whatever he could verbally throw at her, but return it as well. He liked her because she could read him just as good as he could read her. He liked her because they thought so similarly. He simply liked her.


	33. Not all things are meant to continue

The moment you see this, you will most likely realize that it's nothing good. Unfortunately, your suspicions are correct. This story will not be updated anymore, and should be considered a deadfic.

Why, you ask?

Allow me to explain.

The reason why I am interrupting this story is because I find it too difficult to continue it in the current situation. Situation, which is my fault. Thing is, I made a very big mistake by making this a crossover and deciding to work in the Seed storyline.

You see, making this a crossover means I have to dedicate an entire story to nothing else but introduction of the Armored Core universe in the Gundam Seed universe. Doing so, makes it very difficult to advance the plot, since I feel there are thousands of various things I should introduce and explain before I can move on. Considering the scale of my work, these things are too many for me to handle. In fact, this entire story was supposed to be little more than an introduction story where I bring the two universes together and establish a foundation for future work.

My second mistake was the decision to work inside the Gundam Seed canon storyline. First of all, you all have watched Gundam Seed and probably Destiny as well. You all know what is going on. As a result, I was basically retelling the story some of you might have heard/read/seen several times. That alone drains the originality. Furthermore, it also limited my workspace. Yeah, I did start making changes in the last chapters, but I was still working within the canon storyline. Orb would still be invaded, Genesis would still be fired, Yachin Due would still be destroyed and so on. I was changing merely details, not the big things.

Working within a canon storyline is good, when you're writing an AU fic, where you are changing relatively few details (extra pilot, someone who should have died lives and so on). When writing what is basically the first, introduction story of a four story crossover series, the changes are far too big to fit into the Seed storyline.

A lot of time during these months was spent, thinking about what to do and how to salvage the situation. Unfortunately, an answer, that would have allowed me to continue this story, escaped me. Therefore, I decided to stop writing this story.

However, just because I have stopped writing this story, does not mean I will stop writing.

The storyline I have planned is just too good for me to simply drop it and walk away. I must be written.

Therefore, I will be starting another story, one, which will be the first one of a trilogy. Although I still have to polish a few details, I will reveal a few things about it.

First of all, it will be a pure Gundam Seed story, not a crossover. This will allow me to get straight to the action and the main plot, without having to introduce an entire universe. Something, which is a bit over my head and beyond my ability to handle.

Second, the story will be set some time after Gundam Seed and will follow a completely original storyline. While Destiny characters will feature in my stories, Destiny itself will not (at least as far as the plot is considered.), it will be rewritten, so to speak.

Hopefully, this will make things easier for me.

As for the OC's, they will be redesigned, renamed, tweaked a bit and probably included in the new story. No promises yet.

Basically, this is the end of my announcement. I would like to say thanks to all my readers, especially reviewers. Your support did a lot to motivate me and made me feel very good. So, thanks.

To all those who wanted to see this story continued, I offer my apologies. Hopefully the new story will be able to entertain you at least as much as this one did.

I can't say for sure, when the new story will be up. Or how will I name it. All I know is that it will be the first story of The Tainted Renaissance series.

Once again, thank you for your support and sorry for dropping this story.

Bye, for now.

- Asmus


End file.
